
Class T3±35_ 
Book 



Copyright N 



]0 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 




^KaSi uyuWo i tat** .^-. 



HANB B00K 



-OF- 



Corliss Steam Engines 

DESCRIBING IN A COMPREHENSIVE MANNER THE 

ERECTION OF ENGINES, THE ADJUSTMENT 

OF THE CORLISS VALVE GEAR, AND 

THE CARE AND MANAGEMENT 

OF CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 

BY 

F. W. SHIL1L1ITTO, Jf. 



FOURTH EDITION. 




The American Industrial Publishing Co., 

publishers, 

bridgeport, connecticut. u. s. a. 

1906. 






%s 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS} 
Two Copies Received 

JAN II 1906 

Copyright Entry 
COPY 8. 



COPYRIGHT 1906. 
FREDERICK KEPPY, M. E. 




PREFACE. 



THE demand for an elementary treatise 
on the Corliss Engine has induced me 
to undertake the preparation of this volume. 
It is presented with no journalistic preten- 
sions and with no* ambition, save the ad- 
vancement and welfare of £he younger mem- 
bers of our chosen calling. It has been the 
aim of the author to set forth the principles 
governing the subject matter in language 
free from unnecessary technicalities and as 
concisely as possible. 

While a few indicator diagrams have 
been introduced from the author's practice 
for the purpose of illustrating certain points, 
no attempt has been made to treat at length 
on this subject, as the fraternity is well sup- 
plied with most admirable w T orks on this line. 

Should this volume be the means of im- 
parting the desired knowledge to its readers 
the author will, indeed, be amply repaid for 
the effort. 

The Author. 



TABUE OF CONTEXTS. 

PART I. 

Erecting Corliss Steam Engines. 



Chapter I. Preparing Foundations. 

II. Reference lines for locating. 

III. Templates. 

IV. Foundations. 

V. Placing main parts in position. 

VI. Lining and leveling. 

VII. Assembling the moving parts. 



PART II. 
Adjusting Corliss Valves. 



Chapter I. The Valves. 

II. Valve Gears. 

III. Squaring the Valves. 

IV. Dash pot rods. 

V. Eccentric Rod, Rocker Arm and 

Reach Rod. 

VI. Centering the Engine. 

VII. Setting the Eccentrtc. 



VIII. Adjusting the Governor. 

IX. Indicator Diagrams. 

X. A Few Pointers. 

XI. Double ported Valve and Long 

Range Cut-off. 

XII. Tables and Memoranda. 

£111. The Reynolds-Corliss Engine. 
XIV. " Harris-Corliss 
XV. " Philadelphia- Corliss " 
XVI. Ci Eclipse-Corliss " 

XVII. " Columbian-Corliss "* 

>CVIII. " Filer &Stowell-Corliss" 
XIX. " Ceo II. Corliss " 

XX. " Sioux-Corliss 

XXP " VlLTER-CORLISS 

XXII. " BATES-CORLIbS * 

XXIII. " Watts-Campbell Corliss ! ngink 

XXIV. k< Fishkill-Cokliss 




EEECTING COELISS ENGINES. 



PART I. 



CHAPTER I. PREPARING FOUNDATIONS. 

When a new engine is to be installed 
it is to be expected that the engineer 
in charge should be qualified to offer 
valuable suggestions regarding loca- 
tion, etc., also to perform the actual 
work of erection if called upon to do 
so. 

The following explanation of the 
method of procedure, aside from a 
few suggestions regarding location, 
preparing the ground, etc., will apply 
as well to the erection of the motive 
power for an entirely new manufac- 
turing plant as to an addition to a 
plant already in use. 

We will assume that it has been 
decided to install a new engine to re- 
place one which can no longer drive 
the manufacturing plant at its full 
capacity. The first thing to consider 
is the location. Generally speaking 
the engine should be located as cen- 
trally as possible as regards the dis- 
tribution of power, that is, in case a 
long line of shafting is to be driven, 
it will be much better to locate about 



10 HAND BOOK OF 

the middle of the line, if possible, than 
drive it from one end, as for a given 
amount of power to be transmitted a 
lighter shaft can be used in the former 
position than is possible in the latter. 
Of course it is not advisable to separate 
the engine and boiler rooms by any 
great distance if it can be avoided, but 
the inevitable loss of time due to shut- 
ting down the plant long enough to re- 
move the old engine and foundation, 
build new foundations and erect the 
new engine upon the site of the old one, 
will usually far more than offset any 
gain by having a compact plant. At 
the present day, with our admirable 
non-heat-conducting coverings, return 
traps, steam loops, etc., it is possible 
to conduct steam to considerable dis- 
tances with but verv trifling losses 
from radiation and condensation. 

There are many other points than 
those enumerated which must be con- 
sidered in deciding upon the location, 
for every particular case has special 
peculiarities. 

In a new manufacturing plant there 
should be very little difficulty in decid- 
ing upon the location of the motive 
power, and yet it is regrettable that 
there exists to-day so many examples 
of short-sightedness in this respect, 



COELISS STEAM ENGINES. 11 

such as engine rooms without cellars, 
with steam and water pipes running 
under the floor where there is 
barely room enough to crawl, to say 
nothing of doing effective work, when 
repairs have to be made, in such 
cramped quarters, and engines located 
right out in the main shop without any 
protection against dust and dirt. 

Having decided upon the location 
for our new engine, the ground must 
be staked out for the foundation exca- 
vation — the drawings furnished by 
the engine builders giving all the re- 
quired dimensions — the principal re- 
quirement being that it be dug with 
its longest side perpendicular to the 
line shaft in the factory. 

The nature of the soil met with will 
have its effect upon the method of pre- 
paring for the foundation proper, 
therefore it is impossible to state a 
general rule governing all cases. A 
practical mason, experienced in this 
line of work, would be the must likely 
person to decide upon what is to be 
done in unusual cases, but the follow- 
ing has been found to meet ordinary 
requirements. 

Carry the excavation down about 
twenty inches below where the bottom 
of where the brick- work is to begin. 



12 HAND BOOK OF 

have its surface levelled and thor- 
oughly tamped, keeping it quite 
damp while the tamping is be- 
ing done. After it has been given a 
good, honest ramming fill in this extra 
depth, — a thin layer at a time — with 
a concrete composed of five parts of 
broken stone, two parts of clean, sharp 
sand and one part of Portland cement. 
As each layer is put in, tamp it down 
well before putting in the next lay- 
er until the required thickness is 
reached. 

This will take time but it will be 
time well spent, as it must be remem- 
bered that even a poorly built engine 
may run well upon a good foundation, 
while the best engine built will not 
give satisfaction if set upon a poor 
foundation. Pay no attention to those 
who advocate economizing in material 
and use only the best. 

The concrete bed should be given 
time to harden thoroughly before 
starting upon the foundation proper. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 13 



CHAPTER II. REFERENCE LINES. 

When the engine is set up its crank 
shaft must lie parallel with the line 
shaft — or jack shaft if there is one — 
in the factory, consequently the cen- 
ter line through the engine must stand 
at a right angle or perpendicular to 
this line shaft, therefore it will be nec- 
essary to bring a line into the new en- 
gine room to set the template to. 
Targets may be then set up in the en- 
gine room and this reference line pre- 
sented, for we shall haye a use for it 
later. 

Select two points on the line shaft 
as far apart as possible, and clear a 
space under the shaft between these 
two points, then caliper the shaft and 
see that the spots selected are of the 
same diameter, and if so we can go 
ahead, but if they are of different 
diameters, allowance must be made 
for the difference, and the points 
which Aye are to locate upon the floor, 
corrected accordingly, for it must be 
understood that it is the line through 
the center of the line shaft that we de- 
sire to locate. Under the points se- 
lected tack down squares of hard 



14 HAND BOOK OF 

wood, or better yet new. sheets of tin 
to carry the points. 

You will now require a reliable 
plumb bob. The affair usually sold 
in the hardware stores, made of brass 
are usually cast hollow and filled with 
lead, and I have never seen one which 
could be relied upon to locate a point. 
Let one of these get to spinning, and 
ninety-nine times in a hundred its 
point will describe a circle, thus prov- 
ing its center of gravity to be any- 
where but directly over its point 
where it should be. There are to be 
found upon the market cylindri- 
cal plumb bobs, bored and turn- 
ed from the solid bar, and filled 
with mercury (quick silver); they are 
reliable and are made by a firm with 
a reputation for producing accurate 
tools. 

The writer some years ago, having 
the difficulty mentioned above, made 
an experimental plumb bob of cast 
iron and tool steel (gleanings from the 
scrap pile) weighing two and one half 
pounds, which has given excellent re- 
sults. It is illustrated in Fig. 1, 
which gives the dimensions. It will 
be seen that it may be used either end 
up, by reversing the weight upon the 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



IS 



steel spindle, but it is much steadier 
when used as shown. 

Keturning to our shaft we now 
plumb down and locate points upon 
the spots prepared to receive them, 
as shown at a and b in Fig. 2. Now 




Fig. 1. 

drive a fine nail half the diameter of 
the line to one side of point a and 
attach a fine braided line to it, and 
stretch the line through point b and 
fasten it to another wire nail a-few^ 
feet beyond, as at c, then by tapping 



16 



HAND BOOK OF 




Fig. 2, 



COKLISS STEAM ENGINES. 17 

the nails, which support the line, side- 
ways, the line may be made to exactly 
cut through points a and b w T hich it 
is rquired to do. It will be a good 
idea to plumb down from the shaft 
again from points a foot or two inside 
the original points, thus proving the 
setting of the line. You cannot be 
too particular in laying out this line, 
because if it is out ever so little, all 
lines taken from it will be out accord- 
ingly. 

Isow select a point upon the line op- 
posite the door opening into the en- 
gine room — as at x in the figure — lay 
off on the line at each side of x and, 
say six feet from it, points dd. For 
these measurements use only a light 
baton ten feet or more long, laying 
the required distance off upon it, then 
transfer it to the line. Long measure- 
ments made with a two foot rule or 
ordinary tape measure are apt to be 
unreliable. Drive sharp pointed wire 
nails, one through each end of the ba- 
ton with their points projecting from 
the same side; this we will use as a 
tram and lay off from points dd, the 
intersecting arcs yy. These latter had 
better be scribed upon sheets of tin as 
before, 



18 



HAND BOOK OF 



Stretch another line through points 
jj (where the arcs intersect) down the 
engine room and fasten it temporarily 
in this position. This line is shown at 
AB. The next thing to do is to set 
up the "targets" C D, which are to re- 
main as permanent reference points 
until the work is completed and the 
engine running. 

Get two pieces of clear pine four 
inches wide and two feet long, about 
one inch thick, also four pieces of 



Fig. 3. 

about the same width and thickness, 
but about a foot long, and nail them to 
the wall about four feet above the 
floor, with the middle of the length of 
the long piece, opposite where the cen- 
ter line of the engine will come, by 
measuring roughly from line A B., 
and be sure to have the top edge of the 
target level. The target will then ap- 
pear like Fig. 3. 

If the belt holes have already been 
located in the wall take this for a 



CORLISS STEAM. ENGINES. 19 

starting point; if not find where it is 
intended to locate the receiving pul- 
ley on the line shaft and measure back 
from this point to the line A B, and 
transfer this distance to a point upon 
the wall inside the engine room. The 
distance between the center line of the 
engine and the center of the band 
wheel having been located upon the 
template it is obvious that these 
points upon the template and 
the wall must be opposite each other, 
therefore measure back from the lo- 
cation of the belt wheel center, a dis- 
tance equal to the distance between 
the engine line and belt wheel center, 
and locate point h upon the target D. 
Measure the distance from line A B, 
to point h on target D (using a baton 
for this purpose) and going to the oth- 
er end of the line A B locate point i, 
the same distance from A B, upon tar- 
get C. The points h and i can be made 
permanent by making a deep knife 
cut or scratch upon the top edges of 
the targets, using a small try square 
to guide the blade. It will be well 
to put up another set of targets high 
enough above the first ones to be out 
of reach of accident or persons bent 
on mischief. This is easily accom- 
plished by plumining up from the 



20 HAND BOOK OF 

lower ones. The lines may be taken 
up now. 

If it is possible to obtain the use of 
a surveyor's transit for a little while 
the reference line through the engine 
room may be quickly and accurately 
located, the method being about as 
follows: Select a point opposite the 
engine room door and at this point 
plumb down from the shaft to a sheet 
of tin upon the floor thus locating a 
point to start from, and set up the 
transit with its plumb bob exactly 
on this point, and level the instrument 
in each direction by the aid of the ad- 
justing screws under the frame. Se- 
lect a point upon the shaft, (being 
careful about the shaft diameter as 
before) as far away from the transit 
as possible, and suspend a plumb line 
over the same side of the shaft as was 
used to plunib from before, letting the 
bob hang in a pail of water to bring it 
to rest quickly. Now train the tele- 
scope upon this plumb line, bringing 
the cross hairs to bear upon it. Take 
the reading of the horizontal vernier 
and then swing the scope around ex- 
actly 90 degrees, (as indicated upon the 
vernier) training it through the en- 
gine room door. Set up a target at B, 
(fig. 2.) and the cross hairs will exactly 



COKLISS STEAM ENGINES. 21 

locate one end of line A B upon it 
This being marked and a target being 
temporarily erected across the door- 
way, the other end of the line may be 
as readily established. This line may 
now be transferred to targets C D as 
before. 



22 HAND BOOK OF 



CHAPTER III. THE TEMPLATE. 

In building the foundation proper 
it will be necessary to have a tem- 
plate, or pattern of the engine base, 
with all anchor bolts accurately lo- 
cated thereon, to be used as a guide 
for the mason to work to, so while 
waiting for the completion of the pre- 
liminary work it w r ill be advisable to 
get one out, if one has not been fur- 
nished by the engine builders. 

The drawing referred to in Chapter 
I should give the exact location of 
each bolt hole, as compared with the 
center line of the engine, and the cen- 
ter line of the crank shaft, so we w T ill 
transfer these points on to the tem- 
plate, which will of course be the full 
size of the engine base. 

One inch boards eight inches wide 
will answer for the main parts of the 
template, and one inch by six inches 
will be all right for cross pieces rep- 
resenting the engine feet, also the di- 
agonal brace. The drawing will also 
give the distance from the center line 
of the engine to the center of the fly 
wheel, which should also be laid off 
upon the template. The template 
when completed will appear like Fig. 4. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



28 




Fig. 4u 



24 



HAND BOOK OF 



The bolt holes should be bored in 
the template, of such size as will fit 
the bolts snugly. 

The anchor bolts should not be 
"built in" under any circumstances, 
owing to the difficulty in getting their 
length above the cap stones, or sole 
plates, just right, also of replacing 
one should it at any time be necessary 
to do so. 

As casings for the anchor bolts, 



tapering square wooden spouts of 
about five eighth inch stuff should be 
built, long enough to reach from the 
top of the "bottom stones" or anchor 
plates, to the bottom of the cap stones, 
and having their inside measure at the 
top, one and one half inches larger than 
the diameter of the bolt, while their 
bottom end may be just large enough 
to allow the bolt to enter freely. Their 
appearance will be like Fig. 5. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 25 

CHAPTER IV. FOUNDATIONS. 

Undoubtedly the best material for 
an engine foundation is a good qual- 
ity of hard brick, laid in a mortar 
composed of equal parts of sand and 
Portland cement, using a liberal sup- 
ply of water upon the brick. A good 
plan is to lay up a course or two 
around the outer edge of the founda- 
tion, dividing up the enclosed space 
thus formed, by laying partitions across 
it, for convenience in working, and, 
being sure the outside courses are 
tight, pour in a supply of mortar al- 
most as thin as is used for grouting, 
and lay the brick right in it bedding 
them well down and together. Then 
wash all the chinks full of mortar, be- 
fore starting another thickness. This 
method has been used several times 
by the author and has given excellent 
satisfaction. 

The concrete sub-foundation having 
become thoroughly seasoned we will 
proceed to set up the template. This 
may be supported by a frame work 
built up from the floor or it may be 
suspended from the ceiling above, the 
latter being preferable, when it can be 
conveniently done, owing to the extra 
facilities thus afforded for getting 
around under the template. 



26 HAND BOOK OF 

Stretch a line between the targets — 
C 1), fig. 2 — through points k and i, 
and draw it very tightly and which- 
ever method of supporting the tem- 
plate is used, place it under the line 
at a height above the concrete equal 
to the depth of the foundation, and 
approximately center it by plumming 
down from the line onto the center 
line on the template. If it is suspend- 
ed, after getting the perpendiculars 
up, it may be drawn either one way or 
the other as is required to accurately 
center it, by diagonal braces. After 
it has been securely fastened any tem- 
porary support may be removed. 

Suspend plumb lines through the 
centers of the bolt holes in the tem- 
plate, which will give, the proper loca- 
tion for the holes in the anchor plates, 
or bottom stones, — which are heavy 
iron plates or square cut stones with 
holes drilled so that the bolts may 
pass through them. — which are to be 
set in after say four courses of brick- 
work have been laid, leaving ^pock- 
ets" directly underneath the anchor 
plates, for putting the washer and nut 
on the bottom ends of the bolts. Af- 
ter the anchor plates have been set in, 
the wooden casingsmaybeplaced inpo- 
sition and the bolts with their top nuts 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 27 

on dropped through their respective 
holes in the template, cases, and an- 
chor plates, and their weight support- 
ed by blocking under their ends in the 
pockets. The cases should then be 
adjusted so as to leave an equal space 
all around the bolts at their top and 
then nailed in this position to the tem- 
plate. The brickwork will now be 
plain sailing until the time has arrived 
to set the cap stones, when it will be 
necessary to remove the template. 
The tops of these cap stones on the 
main portion of foundation should all 
lie level and in the same plane, as 
nearly as possible; the stone under the 
outboard bearing is usually eighteen 
or twenty inches higher than the oth- 
ers, the drawing giving this required 
data. 

Figure 6 illustrates a brick founda- 
tion with iron anchor plates, extend- 
ing through from side to side, and 
granite cap stones, which will be 
found to give satisfaction. We consid- 
er that heavy cast iron plates, well 
ribbed on their backs (top sides), with 
bolt holes cored, are just as reliable 
as, and less expensive than, cut bot- 
tom stones. 

After the bond between the cap 
stones and the brick has thoroughly 



28 



HAND BOOK OF 




COBLISS STEAM ENGINES. 29 

set, the tops of the stones under the 
cylinder, frame, and main bearing 
should be dressed so that they are 
level and their top surfaces all lie in 
the same plane. They should not re- 
quire much dressing, for a good ma- 
son can make them lie very nearly as 
required without much trouble. A 
long straight edge, a reliable level 
and a good bush hammer are all the 
tools required for this work. 



30 HAND BOOK OF 



CHAPTER V. PLACING THE MAIN 

PARTS. 

When the time comes to get in the 
main parts of the engine arrange it so 
they will come in proper order, that 
is the parts belonging farthest from 
the entrance, should come in first so 
as to avoid moving heavy parts around 
as much as possible. 

You will need, for levelling the en- 
gine about twenty-four iron wedges 
about two inches wide, six inches long, 
and seven eighths of an inch thick at 
the large end, tapering down quite 
sharp at the other. These will be 
used between the cap stones and the 
engine feet. 

Take the top nuts off the anchor 
bolts and let the bolts drop down into 
the pockets out of the way, then get 
in the half of the fly wheel that is 
without the key way, lower it down 
into the wheel pit, and chock it. 

Now get in the main bearing, frame 
and cylinder and place them in posi- 
tion with wedges well entered under 
their feet, in the positions indicated 
at x in Fig. 7, and bolt these parts to- 
gether, being careful to remove all for- 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



31 



,/ 



EL 







ka 



x 



3 



/ 



fc 



^ 



Fig. 7. 



32 



HAND BOOK OF 



eign matter from the surfaces of the 
permanent joints between the cylin- 
der and frame, and between the frame 
and main bearing. The cylinder and 
guide section have been together once 
in the shop and put in perfect allign- 
ment, consequently they ought to go 
together again without trouble. In 
bolting them together set the nuts up 
evenly, and not very tightly, all round 
then finish by tightening opposite 
bolts so as not to throw these parts 
out of line. 




Fig-. 8. 



Raise the anchor bolts up through 
the engine feet and put the top nuts 
on loosely, leaving ample room for lev- 
elling. If any of the bolts are liable 
to bind when moving the engine side- 
ways relieve them now. 

Get in the outboard bearing and set 
it in position, placing wedges as 
shown at x in Fig. 8, then with a 
straight edge placed through both 
shaft bearings level across to see if the 



COKIiISS STEAM ENGINES. 33 

outboard bearing cap stone is low 
enough, and leave about five eighths 
of an inch between the foot of the 
bearing and the cap stone for cement 
filling, or if soft metal or sulphur is to 
be used a smaller space may be left. 

Put the boxes in the shaft bearings 
and place the shaft in position, and 
put the washers and nuts on the bot- 
tom ends of all the anchor bolts. 

Set up the targets E F, as in fig. 2, 
on a level with the engine shaft, after 
which we are ready to begin lining 
and levelling the engine. 



34 HAND EOOK OF 



CHAPTER VI. LINING AND LEVELLING. 

The principal requirements of lining 
an engine are, that the center line 
through the cylinder shall be perpen- 
dicular to the center line of the crank 
shaft, and both centers must lie in the 
same plane; the wearing surfaces of the 
guides must be parallel to the center 
line of the cylinder, and, with bored 
cylindrical guides, any plane cutting 
through the center line of the cylin- 
der longitudinally, must also cut the 
center line of the guides. With V 
guides it often happens that the wear- 
ing surfaces are not at equal distances 
from the center line of the engine and 
we could never quite understand why 
they were so constructed, yet this fact 
has no practical bearing upon the sub- 
ject as far as this style of guide is con- 
cerned. 

A method of supporting the line 
which has been used almost universal- 
ly for years consisted of attaching it 
to an upright located on the floor at 
the crank end, the other end being held 
by a "spider" or cross-bar in the head 
end of the cylinder. It is easily seen 
that, with this arrangment, every time 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 35 

the cylinder end of the engine was 
moved the line was carried with it 
which was very troublesome to the be- 
ginner. A later and much simpler 
way is to set up the line entirely free 
from the engine, and bring the engine 
up to the line. This is the method we 
shall use. 

The crank shaft must be brought 
parallel with the line shaft in the 
mill, so we must establish a line in the 
engine room representing the axis of 
the line shaft. This line will be es- 
tablished on the targets E F in fig. 2. 
If there is no way of taking direct 
measurements for this line as by go- 
ing through the doorway at one end 
and through the belt hole near the 
other end, we must apply the same 
method as was used to bring the line 
A B into the engine room and then 
plumb up to the targets, locating 
points j j, through which stretch the 
line. 

Crowd the shaft back in its bearings 
— toward the cylinder — by drawing 
up the wedges or setting up the screws 
for adjusting the quarter boxes, as the 
case may be, wedging the shaft quite 
tightly. 

With a light stick caliper from each 
end of the shaft to the line as, at 1 and 



36 HAND BOOK OF 

2, (fig. 2). Place one end of the stick 
against the shaft near one end, bring 
the other end of the stick up under 
the line and make a fine knife cut on 
the stick where the line crosses it. 
Make the other end of the shaft come 
up to the same relative position by 
swinging the outward bearing as re- 
quired. After this is done get the 
shaft level. The levelling can best be 
done with a plumb line, as follows: 
Place the crank on the top quarter 
(the crank standing up vertically) and 
suspend a plumb line from above so 
that it hangs opposite the center of 
the crank-shaft and an inch or two 
away from the crank-pin. Measure 
from the end of the crank-pin to the 
line, then roll the crank over to the 
bottom quarter and measure again. 
These measurements must be made 
equal by raising or lowering the out- 
board bearing the desired amount. 

Always watch your previous work 
when making a new adjustment, be- 
cause in levelling a part you will most 
likely throw it out of line, and vice 
versa, therefore throughout the entire 
work bring up the lining and levelling 
together. 

When you have got the shaft level 
and in line, tighten up the anchor bolts 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



37 



holding the bearings, taking care that 
the level or alignment is not impaired 
by doing so. 

Make two upright frames of inch 
stuff, six inches wide and long enough 
to come a few inches higher above the 
floor, than the center line of the engine, 
and put a two inch hole in each up- 
right about on a line with the center 



Jk**> 




Fig. 9. 

line of the cylinder, as illustrated in 
Fig. 9. Set up the frames one at each 
end of the engine with working room 
between the engine and the uprights, 
and the holes in line with the center 
line of the engine, fastening them to 
the floor by one end so that they may 
be swung to either side for squaring 



?8 HAND BOOK OF 

the line with the crank shaft. A piece 
of three-eights inch round iron bent as 
shown in Figure 9, the long arm seven 
inches long with a sixteenth inch hole 
drilled through it three inches from 
the end, as shown, will be found very 
convenient for tightening the line and 
anchoring one end of it. The other 
end may be fastened to a short piece 
of heavy wire or light rod. 

For a "line" we should recommend 
very fine piano wire as it is much 
stronger than any equally fine fibrous 
line, and has a much nicer surface to 
caliper to. Run the wire through the 
cylinder and both uprights, fastening 
the cylinder end of it to a short piece 
of rod placed crosswise of the hole in 
the upright at this end, then pass the 
other end of the wire through the 
small hole in the bent iron crank, 
take up the slack by hand, take a few 
turns around the iron crank and cut 
off any surplus wire. By letting the 
small crank shaft rest against the 
back of the upright, and turning the 
crank, the line may be drawn up very 
tightly after which the crank may be 
pushed around and held fast at the 
back of the upright thus securely an- 
choring the line. 



coeliss steajI zngd:es, 39 

The engine line must be got square 
with the crank shaft, passing opposite 
the shaft's center, and exactly over the 
middle of the crank pin's length. The 
line may be squared by the same pro- 
cess as was used for levelling the 
shaft. Referring to Figure 7 it will 
be seen that the line is over the center 
of the crank-pin's length when the 
spaces a and b are equal; and it is 
square with the shaft when the mea- 
surements b and c are equal, (c being 
measured with the crank near the 
other center as shown dotted in). 
While taking these measurements be 
sure that all end play in the shaft is 
taken up by crowding it back toward 
the outboard bearing. This is very 
important and if not seen to will cause 
trouble. 

When the line has been set as re- 
quired, fasten the line supports se- 
curely and see that the line has not 
been moved in doing so. 

Now measure up roughly to find 
how much the cylinder end is out hori- 
zontally and move it accordingly, 
when it will be found to be very nearly 
in its proper position, and is ready fer- 
tile first levelling. 

Having provided yourself with a 
good machinist's level about two feet 



40 



HAND BOOK OF 



long, apply it to the bottom of the cy- 
linder bore, and along the top of the 
steam valve chambers, and get the cy- 
linder level both ways; at the same 
time bring the gnide section level, by 
levelling along the bottom gnide; also 
plumb across the finished edges of 
both guides as illustrated in Figure 10. 
Get these spots right, being sure that 
all the wedges under the feet have 
good bearings. 

Our next move is to set the line 




level, or parallel to the bottom guide 
which we have just levelled, at the 
same time keeping it in its previous 
position horizontal^. For this pur- 
pose make a caliper of a piece of pine, 
the long arm being about as big as a 
lead pencil, and with a thin semicircu- 
lar base, set on edge, as shown at A 
in Figure 11, the total length of the 
caliper being about one-half inch 



COKLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



41 





Fig. 11. 



42 HAND BOOK OF 

shorter than the distance from the line 
to the bottom guide. Drive a pin 
straight into the end of the long arm 
to adjust the caliper by. Caliper from 
the lower guide to the line at points 
a and f, Figure 11, as far apart as pos- 
sible, and make these measurements 
equal, at the same time keeping the 
line cutting the center line of the 
crank shaft. For example, should the 
line be higher at a than at f you must 
lower the cylinder end and raise the 
crank end so as to keep the line oppo- 
site the crank shaft center, manipulat- 
ing it so as to get the measurements 
a and f equal. 

It is obvious that if the guide sec- 
tion is level, and the line is made 
parallel with it on the same plane as 
the center of the crank shaft, the line 
should be almost in the exact center of 
the stuffing-box vertically. After lev- 
elling the line test it once more for 
squareness with the shaft, and correct 
any error here. 

We now have the line level, square 
with the shaft, and on the same plane 
as the center of the crank shaft, and 
the engine is level. What remains to 
be done is to set the engine so that the 
line shall be exactly centered in the 
cylinder, in the center of the stuffing- 



COEUSS steam engines. 



box, parallel to the guides and over 
the center of the guides, also level in 
both directions. 

Make a light wooden caliper, one 
half inch shorter than the radius of 
the cylinder and stick a pin straight 
into the end; also make a much shorter 
one for the stuffing-box. 




Fig. 12. 

You will now perhaps find that the 
engine is out more horizontally than 
vertically, so try to correct this first. 
With the long caliper measure in the 
head end of the cylinder from points d 
and b, Figure 12, to the line, and move 
the cylinder, to the right or left, as the 
case may be, so as to make these meas- 



44 



HAND BOOK OF 



urements equal. Bring the stuffing- 
box end up at the same time by simil- 
arly calipering with the small caliper. 
Now try the level again, and don't 
try to get the last hair's breadth on the 
line when the level is out, which it un- 
doubtedly will be if the cylinder has 
been moved much. If the level is out 
drive up the wedges at the required 
points and caliper to the line again 
both vertically and horizontally. 




rig. 13. 

We will now see how the guides 
stand horizontally as compared with 
the line. For this purpose make a 
wooden straight edge long enough to 
more than span across the edges of 
both guides, drive a stout wire into 
the middle of its length, and use it as 
illustrated in Figure 13. The object 
is to get the edges of the guides paral- 



COBLISS STEAM ENGINES. 45 

lei with the line. Guage from eac_ 
end of the guides, and bring the frame 
up as required. 

Sometimes if the cylinder joint is 
not carefully cleaned, a small particle 
of solid matter being left adhering to 
one of the surfaces, it will throw the 
guides around out of line, or the same 
thing may result in the bolting, or it 
still may have the appearance of be- 
ing out of line if one side of the frame 
is a trifle lower than the other, thus 
rocking it to one side. Try all these 
points, and if the guides are plumb 
and the frame seems to be out side- 
ways, slack up on the apparently tight 
side of the cylinder joint, tighten up 
on the opposite side, then tighten up 
the other side again, and most likely it 
will be all right. 

Having got the cylinder and guides 
in line horizontally and plumb and 
level, bring them up to the line verti- 
cally following the same principles as 
before. When you are satisfied that 
the engine as a whole is level and in 
line as it stands, see that the wedges 
all have an equal bearing and set up 
on the anchor bolts quite snugly all 
around. Try the line and level again 
in all directions, because it is possible 
to spring the engine down or to rock 



46 HAND BOOK OF 

it to one side in tightening the bolts; 
this must be remedied by the wedges 
and another trial made. When tight- 
ening up the bolts quite strongly does 
not disturb the level nor allignment, 
you can consider the job done. 

Patience, close observation, and ac- 
curacy are the principle requirements 
in lining an engine; without exercising 
these virtues you cannot hope for suc- 
cess. 

The joint between the cap-stones 
and the engine feet had better be made 
now. First stuff some waste around 
the anchor bolts, poking it down into 
the boxes an inch or two after which 
poke sand in on top of it; this will keex> 
the filling from running into the boxes 
and grouting the bolts. 

If the space between the cap stone 
and castings is three-eights of an inch 
or less, a filling composed of seven 
parts lead and one part antimony will 
make a very satisfactory joint. If 
there are very thin spaces to be filled, 
spray kerosene into the opening and 
pour the hot metal quickly and the 
space may be very easily filled. 

Should the opening be half inch or 
larger used best quality Portland ce- 
ment, mixed clear and quite thin. 



COELISS STEAM ENGINES. 47 

Of course provision must be made 
for running the filling just where it is 
wanted, by making a dam of sand all 
round each foot, with space sufficient- 
ly wide to pour the filling. 

After the joints have been given 
sufficient time to set thoroughly — at 
least twenty-four hours if cement is 
used — tighten all the anchor bolts per- 
manently. Two men with a six foot 
wrench is about right for a two-inch 
bolt. 



48 HAND BOOK OF 



CHAPTER VII. ASSEMBLING THE MOV- 
ING PARTS. 

Before placing the fly-wheel in posi- 
tion, the shaft boxes should be scraped 
to a good bearing. Hoist up the shaft 
and slip on the eccentric, then lightly 
coat the surface of the journals with 
red lead, replace the shaft and roll it 
in its bearings a few times to mark 
the babbitt where it bears too hard. 
Scrape down these "high spots" and 
try it again, continuing to mark and 
scrape until the journals bear evenly 
in their boxes. When this is satis- 
factorily accomplished give the jour- 
nals a coat of clean oil, put the shaft 
in place, adjust the bearings properly 
and put on the caps, taking care to 
plug the oil holes to keep out dirt. 

Now turn the shaft so as to bring 
the key seat uppermost, and try the 
key both in the shaft and in the wheel 
to see that it is a proper fit, and find- 
ing it to be satisfactory, seat it well 
in its place in the shaft. This may 
seem to some to be a radical departure 
from the usual practice, as engine 
builders have been in the habit of driv- 
ing the keys, which is all right with 



COKLISS STEAM ENGINES. 49 

solid wheels for obvious reasons. As 
regards a sectional or "split" wheel, a 
few moments study of the situation 
will convince the most skeptical that 
it is easier, takes less time, is safer, in 
fact, is better every way to clamp the 
wheel on to a properly fitted key than 
it is to drive the key, especially if the 
key be a large one. 

We have seen keys as small as one 
inch square that fitted the key seats in 
both shaft and pulley beautifully and 
could be seated in either with a few very 
light taps with a stick of wood, and, 
although the key seats were accurate- 
ly in line (as they always should be), 
the key could not be driven without 
upsetting and throwing the wheel out 
of true. 

Now carefully clean the wheel fit 
and the bore and facings of the wheel, 
and jack the lower half of the wheel — 
which is in the wheel pit — up to its 
place against the shaft. Sling the 
other half, hoist it into position and 
lower it into place. Put in two hub 
bolts diagonally opposite and draw 
them down solidly, then examine the 
holes for the rim bolts to see that they 
come fair when the edges of the fly 
wheel are true. Any holes which do 



50 HAND BOOK OF 

not come exactly fair should be ream- 
ed true and new bolts fitted. 

It is by far the best plan to shrink 
the hub bolts in. Take the other two 
hub bolts and heat them evenly, in a 
wood fire, to a very low heat; a red 
heat barely perceptable in broad day- 
light, or "black-hot," is hot enough, be- 
cause if you have them red hot they 
will only stretch when you put the 
wrench on, thus weakening them. 
Having got them to the proper heat, 
put them in their holes and draw the 
nuts up solid with a good stout 
wrench, and the shrinkage will do the 
rest. Eemove the bolts previously 
put in to hold the wheel and treat 
them the same way. Now bolt the 
rim and you will have a job to be de- 
pended upon. 

It will be advisable to set the steam- 
fitters at work on the steam and ex- 
haust piping just as soon as possible 
after the engine is set, as we shall 
have a use for them before the piston 
and valves are in. In the meantime 
get the eccentric strap on, the rocker 
arm and wrist plate stud set up, the 
wrist plate on, and the eccentric and 
reach rods connected, and the gover- 
nor set ry>. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 51 

If the engine is to be run condensing 
do not connect the exhaust pipe to the 
condenser yet, but blank off this con- 
nection and first use the outboard or 
"free" exhaust. Bolt pieces of plank 
over the front ends of the valve cham- 
bers and put the bonnets on the back 
ends. Put the cylinder head on, and 
clamp a piece of board over the stuf- 
fing-box, using the gland for a strap. 

Now if the piping is finished and has 
been tested with steam on, caution the 
fireman to look out for the water in the 
boiler, and give the pipes and cylinder 
a good blast of steam. Do not keep 
the throttle open more than a second 
or two, as the excessive draught of 
steam may cause the boilers to prime, 
and thus draw the water down dan- 
gerously low in the boilers. It is sim- 
ply astonishing the amount of grit 
which may be removed from the steam 
pipe and engine in this manner. This 
pipe scale and core sand if left to itself 
is very apt to seriously injure the 
valves, piston rings, and cylinder. 

The writer once took charge of a 
new 18 & 42x36 inch cross-compound 
condensing engine, which had been set 
up the year previous to his engage- 
ment, and had been run five days on 
trial. When we opened the high pres- 



52 HAND BOOK OF 

sure cylinder, we found conclusive 
proof that this piping and engine had 
not been blown out with steam before 
using. There were three very bad 
grooves about one-quarter inch wide 
extending the entire length of the bot- 
tom of the cylinder bore, and upon 
looking further, loose scale and core 
sand was found in the exhaust chest 
and receiver. Thus it will be under- 
stood that this steam scouring pro- 
cess is well worth the trouble. 

Having repeated the blowing a few 
times, at intervals, the cylinder may 
be opened and wiped clean. Then 
get in the piston and piston rod, 
(which in sizes up to 22 inches are 
usually shipped in one piece, boxed). 
Take the piston all apart, clean it 
thoroughly, and examine it carefully 
to see that all the parts are there and 
that they fit properly, then get the pis- 
ton into the cylinder. 

Put in the chunk ring, packing 
rings, springs, and centering screws, 
and accurately center the piston in the 
cylinder bore, by calipering from the 
turned boss on the piston, to the coun- 
ter-bore, and adjusting the screws be- 
tween the spider and the chunk ring. 

Put on the follower and see that 
there is a good bearing or counter sink 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 53 

for the heads of the bolts to seat 
against, also that the bolts do not bot- 
tom in the holes before they are screw- 
ed up, and set them all up hard. Ee- 
member that it is possible to put such 
a strain on these bolts as to cause 
them to break, still the one which 
should happen to work out, through 
not being screwed home, may break 
the cylinder head or the piston, or 
both.' 

If the piston rod is held in the piston 
with a nut, screw this up as solidly as 
possible and put, say, three good deep 
center punch marks between the nut 
and the rod, right on the thread. 
These will prevent the nut working 
off, and should it be necessary to re- 
move it at any time, the center punch 
marks may be easily drilled out with 
a breast drill. 

The piston is usually marked O or 
T, for the top, but if it is not, mark it 
so for future reference, and put the 
same mark on the other end of the pis- 
ton rod, near the thread, so that in 
screwing the rod into the cross head, 
you may keep the piston right side up. 

Get tne cross-head in place and 
screw the piston rod into it, and set 
up tin piston rod nut. Before we go 
any farther with this portion we had 



54: HAND BOOK OF 

better adjust the cross-head in the 
guides, the idea being to center the 
rod with the center line of the engine, 
and as we have already centered one 
end of it when we centered the piston, 
all that is necessary now is to get the 
rod parallel to the lower guide by cal- 
ipering from the guide to the rod, — as 
in Figure 11, at a and f, — and raising 
or lowering the cross-head through 
the medium of its adjusting screws or 
wedges. When you have adjusted the 
bottom shoe satisfactorily, adjust the 
top shoe so that there is a very slight 
amount of room between it and the 
top guide. Xow push the cross-head 
to the other end of its travel and see 
that the top shoe is as free there as at 
the other end, as it should be if the 
guides have been properly machined. 
The next thing is to locate the 
"striking points 7 ' of the piston upon 
the lower guide. These striking 
points are lines, one near each end of 
and permanently marked upon the 
lower guide and denote the position of 
a similar line upon some fixed point 
on the cross-head when the piston is 
in contact with either cylinder head. 
In an engine whose piston rod is keyed 
into the cross-head they are very read- 
ily located; but when the piston rod is 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 55 

screwed into the cross-head, unless the 
exact position or depth has been mark- 
ed upon the rod when they were put 
together in the shop, it will take a lit- 
tle manoeuvering to properly locate its 
exact position. It is evident that the 
connecting rod with its connections 
may be considered as having a fixed 
length, (a properly fitted rod requires 
no "shimming" behind the brasses), 
therefore we will start with the rod 
and locate the travel of the cross-head, 
by making faint "clearance" lines up- 
on the guide, and work back from 
them, to locate the "striking points.-' 

In putting on the connecting rod, 
key it up tightly onto either pin and 
see that it points fairly to the other 
one, thus ascertaining if the brasses 
have been properly fitted. Try this 
from both pins, and if much of an er- 
ror is found here the brasses should be 
re-fitted. 

Having the connecting rod on, place 
the engine on the crank end center 
and scribe a faint line on the cross- 
head and extend it across the edge of 
the lower guide; place the engine on 
the other center and scribe another 
line, — co-incident with that one al- 
ready upon the cross-head, — upon the 
other end of the guide. These lines 



56 HAND BOOK OF 

represent the travel of the cross-head, 
consequently the stroke of the engine. 
Next measure the "inset" of the cy- 
linder head (i. e., the depth of that part 
which extends into the cylinder, meas- 
ured from the face of the joint), and 
transfer this depth to the counter-bore 
and mark it. Now disconnect the 
crank end of the connecting rod, and 
let it rest on blocking, or hang sus- 
pended by the tackle used to put it in 
place, and draw the piston up against 
the frame head. Cut a straight stick 
— a piece of seven-eights stuff two or 
three inches wide is just the thing — 
accurately to the length of the stroke 
of the engine, with the ends square, 
verify it by comparing it with the 
marks laid off on the guide, and, find- 
ing it correct lay it on its edge in the 
cylinder with one end up against the 
piston. The distance between the 
end of the stick and the position of the 
cylinder head inset as marked in the 
counter-bore will be the sum of the 
clearance for both ends. Suppose 
this measures five-eights of an inch, 
it is evident that the clearance will be 
five-sixteenths of an inch in each end, 
that is the piston should be made to 
travel to within five-sixteenths of an 
inch of each head. 



COKLISS STEAM ENGINES. 57 

Now push the cross head to the 
head end of its stroke as will be 
indicated by the marks on it and the 
guide being in line, and turn the piston 
rod into or out of the cross head as re- 
quired to bring the piston five six- 
teenths of an inch further in the cy- 
linder than the mark in the counter 
bore, and secure the rod in this posi- 
tion, previously seeing that the O on 
the rod is on top. Now draw the pis- 
ton up against the frame head, when 
the mark on the cross-head will be 
found to have travelled by the one on 
the guides just five-sixteenths of an 
inch. You may now make a perman- 
ent line on the guide in line with that 
on the cross head; then push the pis- 
ton up to the mark in the counterbore 
in the head end and the lines on the 
cross head and guide at this end of the 
stroke will be five-sixteenths apart 
also. Make a permanent line at this 
end, same as at the other. The marks 
nearest to the ends of the guide are 
the "striking points 1 ' and should be 
marked O as should the line on the 
cross head. You can now verify the 
work. 

It is a good plan to put a prick- 
punch m^rk in the center cf the O on 
the piston rod and another one upon 



HAND BOOK OF 



the cross head some even number of 
inches from the one on the rod. Lay 
off the distance upon some finished 
part of the frame for future reference 
as a tram gauge, and when every- 
thing is finally adjusted locate these 
tram marks, one each side of the 
screwed connections of the eccentric 
and carrier rods. Should it be neces- 
sary at anytime to separate any of 
these connections they may be very 
easily and accurately re-adjusted by 
taking up the distance laid off, upon a 
pair of dividers and bringing the 
marks up to this gauge. 

The striking points for an engine 
whose piston rod is keyed into the 
cross-head are located by keying in the 
rod and simply pulling the piston up 
against either head (or up to the dis- 
tance that the inset of the head enters 
the cylinder if that head is off) and lo- 
cating the marks upon the guide and 
cross-head after which the connecting 
rod may be put on and the amount of 
clearance ascertained and the rod 
lengths verified. 

Give the bore of the cylinder a good 
coating of cylinder oil and put on the 
cylinder head to keep out the dirt. 

The valves are usually shipped 
each pinned to its own stem; this is 



COFJGISS STEAM ENGINES, 



59 




Tig. 14. 



60 HAND BOOK OF 

due to the fact that when a valve is 
being fitted to the bore of its chamber, 
it is turned on its own stem. Before 
putting them in, take out the pins and 
clean the valves and stems thoroughly, 
and examine them carefully noting 
the difference in shape between the 
steam and exhaust valves. Their gen- 
eral appearance is very similar, the 
distinguishing feature being the great- 
er breath of the face — about one-third 
of its circumference — on the exhaust 
valve. This is required on account of 
the larger size of the exhaust port, 
also its position. In Fig. 14, A gives 
an idea of the general appearance of a 
Corliss valve in outline; B a cross sec- 
tion — through point x — of a steam 
valve, and a cross section of an ex- 
haust valve, through the same point. 
D illustrates the valve stem, usually 
made of phosphor-bronze, the flatten- 
ed portion or "blade" being an easy fit 
in the slot f of the valve. Turning up 
the bottom edge of the blade you will 
find four holes about one-half inch in 
diameter in its edge. These holes are 
seatings for the short, stout spiral 
springs which come in the box with 
the valves, and Avhen the valve and 
stem is put together ready for placing 
in its proper chamber, these springs 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 61 

tend to thrust the valve away from 
the stem, thus keeping it normally to 
its seat — the steam pressure acts in 
the same direction — and at the same 
time allowing it comparative freedom. 
The pins which held the valves and 
stems together must, of course, be 
taken out and kept out, their mission 
being ended practically after the valve 
has been turned up to fit. 

You will find the valves and stems 
each marked consecutively from 1 to 
4 corresponding to a like number 
stamped on the back ends of the valve 
chambers; these denote the chamber 
that each individual valve was fitted 
to. 

Now put the valves in their proper 
places and put on the front bonnets — 
those on the valve-motion side — and 
bolt them fast. Push each valve 
snugly up against the front bonnets 
and try the back bonnets to see that 
they do not bind the valves end-ways. 
These points are supposed to be all 
right when the parts left the shop, still 
it is well to look into such matters and 
be satisfied yourself. Should you find 
any valve or stem that is a trifle long 
it, or they, must be removed and a chip 
turned off the back end as required to 
free it. 



62 HAND BOOK OF 

Get the valve motion and dash pots 
set up, during which operation no dif- 
ficulty should be met with as they 
all have been together in the shop and 
properly marked. Be sure that there 
is no cramp or bind in any of the valve 
or governor rod connections, for if 
they are not perfectly free, they will 
cause trouble. Also see that the wrist 
plate can be moved through its ex- 
treme travel without any of the con- 
nections interfering or bringing tip 
solidly, and the engine is all ready for 
valve adjustment. 



PART 11. 

ADJUSTING CORLISS VALVES. 




GEORGE H. CORLISS, 

INVENTOR OF THE CORLISS STEAM ENGINE. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



65 



CHAPTER I.— THE YALVE. 



Before going into the details of ad- 
justing the valves of a Corliss engine, 
it will be advisable to consider the 
construction and different functions of 
the common slide-valve. 




Fig. 1. 

Referring to figure 1, P P are the 
cylinder steam ports. E is the cylinder 
exhaust port, and X is the exhaust cav- 
il y of the valve. The edges A. A. are 
the steam edges, or the edges which 
control the admission of steam to the 
cylinder and the point at which the 
steam is cut-off. B B are the exhaust 



06 HAND BOOK OF 

edges, and control the opening for ex 
haust and the closing for compression. 

In this type of valve these points are 
determined in the design of the engine, 
and are therefore nnadjustable. Any 
change in the steam distribution would 
necessitate the designing of an entirely 
new valve, unless the desired change be 
very slight, when the valve may possibly 
be altered to meet the requirements. 
With the Corliss valve this would be 
unnecessary as will be explained at 
another time. 

It will be seen by referring to the 
figure that the steam edges of the valve 
overlap the ports, as shown by the 
dotted lines a, b, and a' b\ This over- 
lapping is technically called u lap, v and 
when given to a valve, as in the figure, 
it is for the purpose of cutting off the 
steam before the completion of the pis- 
ton stroke. The exhaust edges of the 
valve are ' ' line and line ? ' which is usual 
practice, yet conditions may sometimes 
require a small amount of inside lap 
to prevent a too early release. 

The greatest disadvantage attending 
the use of the slide valve, lies in its 
limited ability to handle steam expan- 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 67 

sively, the earliest point at which it can 
be made to cut-off the steam with econ- 
omy being about three-quarter stroke ; 
an earlier cut-off produces a correspond- 
ingly early exhaust opening for release 
and an equally early exhaust closure for 
compression. To put it more plainly : — 
If the valve had no lap, neither steam 
nor exhaust, and stood ' ' line and line ' ' 



Vs/SSS //////. 



%. 







'//>yl/, 



HP* ^|^^^3%Z^^2g^Z2^^^|%j 
g^zz^zagazgagfeaz zzzzzzzzszst s^* 




-t- 
Fig. 2. 

the eccentric would stand at a position 
90 degrees in advance of the crank, and 
the valve would then admit steam full 
stroke. As lap is added for the pur- 
pose of producing an earlier cut-off the 
eccentric would have to be advanced 
to a greater angle, or sufficient to ' ' take 
up the lap," and have the valve in a 



68 HAND BOOK OF 

position to open for admission at tlio 
proper moment. It is this advancement 
of the eccentric which brings about the 
objections previously spoken of pertain- 
ing to release and compression. A too 
early release prevents the full realiza- 
tion of expansion, and over compression 
lessens the available net power of the 
engine. 

In the Corliss valve gear these objec- 
tions are practically eliminated. 

Comparing fig. 1, with the sectional 
view of the Corliss cylinder and valves, 
fig 2, it will be seen that the four func- 
tions of admission, cut-off, release and 
compression, are obtained by two sets of 
valves in the latter, each set — one steam 
valve and one exhaust valve — control- 
ling the four points for their own end of 
the cylinder. They may therefore be 
considered as the two working edges of 
one end of the slide valve, separated 
and arranged to give the greatest flexi- 
bility of adjustment, that is the Corliss 
steam valve, A. fig. 2, may be taken as 
representing the edge A. fig. 1, of the 
slide-valve, and the exhaust valve B, 
fig. 2, considered as the edge B of the 
slide valve. The four valves will con- 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 69 

sequently perform the same duties as 
the four edges of the slide-valve while 
possessing the extra advantages of being 
placed nearer the work, thus reducing 
clearance, and being adjustably con- 
nected to a common center of motion. 
This center of motion is called the ' ' wrist 
plate, ' ' and its use presents the advant- 
ages of a peculiarly accelerated and re- 
tarded motion of the valves at a time to 
give the most beneficial results, i. e., the 
ports are opened and closed very rapid- 
ly, and held open in such a manner as to 
give the least loss of pressure in admis- 
sion, and the lowest back-pressure dur- 
ing exhaust. 



% 



HAND BOOK OF 



CHAPTER II.— VALVE GEARS. 



There is a great variety of releasing 
gears as applied to the Corliss engine, 
yet they differ only in detail and not in 
principle, and may, for convenience, be 
divided into two classes. 




Fig. 3. 

Those engines, whose valves rotate 
toward the center of the cylinder in ad- 
mitting steam, may be considered as the 
first class, and include the " crab-claw 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 71 

gear," Fig. 3, as originally applied by 
George H. Corliss and William A. 
Harris, and still used either in the 
original or a modified form by several 
later builders. The Reynolds-Corliss, 
Philadelphia-Corliss engines, and sev- 
eral other makes, belong to this class 



Fig. 4. 

also, but are equipped with a device 
known &s the " half -moon gear," Fig. 4. 
The second class is made up of those 
engines in which the steam valves ro- 
tate toward the ends of the cylinder, or 
outward, when opening for admission, 
generally using a form of gear styled 



72 HAND BOOK OF 

the "oval arm gear," Fig. 5. To this 
class belong the Allis-Corliss and Hewes 
and Phillips-Corliss engines. There 
are a few builders who use the oval arm 
gear to rotate the steam valves toward 
the center of the cylinder in opening — 
therefore, their engines may be consid- 



Fig. 5. 

ered as being in the first class — but the 
gear is necessarily reversed — that is, 
the valve lever, or " Jim crank, 5 ' hangs 
downward instead of standing up from 
the valve stem. The Hamilton-Corliss 
engine is a familiar illustration of this 
stvle. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



73 



CHAPTER III —SQUARING THE YALYES. 



Let us now imagine before ns a new 
20-inch Corliss engine, set up, lined, and 
levelled, all parts assembled and ready 
for the adjustment of the valves. 

The first step to be taken is technically 



ENGINE.I UNHO&KED 




Fig. 6. 

called " squaring the valves." On re- 
moving the back bonnets of the valve 
chambers you will find marks on the 
end of each valve and on the end of 
each valve chamber, each of which 
should exactly coincide with the work- 



74 



HAND BOOK OF 



ing edge of its own valve, or port, as 
the case may be. It will be advisable 
to inspect these points and become 
thoroughly familiar with them. See 
Fig. 6. 

On the wrist-plate stud will be found 



L 



\ 



WRIST PLATE 

TT 



Fig. 7. 

a center line, which coincides with a 
similar line on the back of the hub, and 
a b points equi-distant on each side of 
the center line of the stud there will be 
found other lines, which represent the 
extreme travel or oscillation of the wrist 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 75 

plate in either direction when in proper 
adjustment. See Fig. 7, which is atop 
view of a wrist plate when on its center 
of travel, A B being the centre lines, 
C and D representing the extreme throw 
marks. 

Set the wrist plate on the center and 
slack off the nut which holds the wrist 
plate on the stud, then, after interpos- 
ing a piece of card board between the 
washer and wrist plate hub, screw up 
the nut hard enough to prevent the 
wrist plate from being accidentally 
moved off its center while working on 
the radial rods — as the connections be- 
tween the valve cranks and the wrist 
plate are sometimes called. 

Referring to the ' ' Table of Laps and 
Lead," we find that a 20-inch engine 
requires a steam lap — i. e., the distance 
the steam valve overlaps the port in 
excess of complete ^closure — of J inch 
and an exhaust lap of i inch when the 
wrist plate is on the center of travel, 
also a steam lead of i 2 inch, which, for 
the time being, we will not consider. 

The adjustments for each end of the 
cylinder are obtained by lengthening 
:r shortening the radial rods* as the 



76 HANt> BOOK OF 

conditions may require, until the lines 
on the steam valve — for the crab claw 
or half -moon gear, or any gear which 
opens the steam valves toward the cen- 
ter of the cylinder — are 4 inch nearer 
the ends of the cylinder than those on 
the end faces of the steam valve cham- 
bers. 

In any of the gears which open their 
steam valves outward, as the oval-arm 
gear, these lines should be separated 
the same distance in the other direction 
— that is, the line on the steam valve 
should be J inch nearer the center of 
the cylinder than that on the chamber 
for the same size of cylinder. 

Having made the required adjust- 
ments on the steam valves, treat the ex- 
haust valves the same way, with the 
exception, of course, of the amount of 
lap, remembering that the working ex- 
haust port is the opening between the 
exhaust valve chamber and the exhaust 
chest (see Fig. 2) and not on the port 
opening directly from the cylinder; 
therefore, the lapping of the exhaust 
valves will be indicated by the distance 
that the line on the valve is away from 
the line on the chamber in a direction 



CORLTRS STRAM ENGINES. ' 77 

toward the top of the cylinder or ver- 
tically. (See Fig. 6.) 

There is considerable difference of 
opinion upon this point of exhaust lap ; 
it formally was, and is still with some 
builders, the custom to give exhaust 
opening with the wrist plate central ; 
still others place the exhaust valves 
"line and line," but the best practice 
seems to require a slight lapping of the 
exhaust valves when in this position. 

The measurements for valve setting 
as given in the table are all right for 
ordinary practice, but in some instance 
they will, perhaps, require modifica- 
tion to fit the conditions under which 
the engine is to run, and considerable 
deviation may be made from them with- 
out seriously impairing the steam dis- 
tribution. By lapping the exhaust 
valves more, an earlier exhaust closure 
will be realized, giving more compres- 
sion, and at the same time a later re- 
lease. It will be seen that it is not de- 
sirable to go to extremes. 

The only true way after getting a new 
installation to work is to apply the in- 
dicator and from its readings correct 
any slight misadjustment that may ex- 



78 



HAND BOOK OF 



ist, but this will be explained in an- 
other chapter. 

Having carefully adjusted and fasten- 
ed all connections, the valves are now 
u squared" and the temporary card 
board fastening may be removed from 
wrist plate and the nut tightened up. 



Table Showing Lap and Lead of 
of Corliss Engine : 


Valves 


Cylinder Diameter in 


Wrist Plate on its 
Center. 


Steam Lead 
Engine on 
Center 


Inches. 


Steam 
Lap. 

3-16" 

5-16" 
Vs" 


Exhaust 
Lap. 

1-32" 
1-16" 
3-32" 

X' 


8, 10 & 12. 
14, 16, 18 &20. 
22, 24, 26, 28 & 30. 
32, 34 & 36, 


1-32" 
1-32" 
3-64" 
1-16" 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



79 



CHAPTER IV.— THE DASH-POT RODS. 



The dash-pot rods must be adjusted 
to the proper length ; and at this point 
we must speak a word or two of cau- 
tion, for should these adjustments be 
incorrectly made, either the valves will 




Fig. 8. 

not hook up or something will be bent 
or broken at the first revolution of the 
engine. That is, if the rods are left too 
long the closing shoulder on the re- 
leasing gear will bring up against the 



80 HAND BOOK OF 

hook-block before the wrist-plate has 
reached its extreme point of travel and 
either buckle the rod or break off the 
valve crank. Therefore, great care 
must be exercised at this point. 

Unhook the steam valves, allowing 
the dash-pot plungers to drop home, 
being sure that they are home, driving 
them down with a block of wood to 
make sure ; then carefully throw the 
wrist-plate over to its extreme travel 
and adjust the length of the dash-pot 
rod, H, Fig. 8, so that there will be an 
equal space between the hook block F, 
and the latch steel on one side, (see G), 
and the hook- block and the closing 
shoulder on the other (as at E.) 

Serve the other end of the valve gear 
in the same manner, and then verify 
these adjustments by hooking up both 
valves and releasing them again once 
or twice, and if everything is clear we 
are through with the valve gear for a 
time. 

It will sometimes happen that after 
a new engine has been run a day or two 
the valves will not hook up, or may 
"miss*' occasionally. This is due to 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 81 

the leathers on the dash-pot plungers 
becoming pliable and probably com- 
pressed a trifle, thus allowing them to 
drop lower and with greater freedom. 
When this occurs it is only necessary 
to carefully lengthen the dash-pot rod 
so that the valves will hook on, bearing 
in mind the point relating to clearance 
previously mentioned. 

Too much air cushion in the dash-pot 
may cause the plunger to drop only 
partially home, thus requiring it to be 
pushed down by the closing shoulder 
on the end of the radial rod. This 
shoulder, by the way, is located as 
mentioned, in the crab-claw gear only, 
while in the oval arm gear, or half moon 
gear, it is the squared projection at the 
bottom of the jaw of the latch. The 
remedy in this case is to so regulate the 
amount of cushion that the plunger 
will drop home rapidly, yet without 
pound or jar. 

Insufficient cylinder lubrication will 
at times have the effect of making the 
steam valves close slowly and also re- 
quiring them to be pushed shut, and 
the uninitiated may often attribute this 
to some derangement of the dash-pot. 



82 HAND BOOK OF 



CHAPTER V.— ECCENTRIC ROD, ROCKER 
ARM AND REACH ROD. 



In determining the proper length for 
the eccentric rod, the proper position 
of the eccentric, laterally, must be 
found, and care taken to prevent its 
being moved along the shaft afterward, 
so as to bring it out of line either to- 
ward the main bearing or toward the 
fly-wheel, either of which will cause 
the strap to bend sidewise and give 
trouble by heating. To determine 
this position, take off the front 
half of the eccentric strap, and, 
having previously keyed up the other 
end of the rod tightly in position, push 
the back half of strap far enough back 
to admit of the rod being swung a trifle 
sidewise, as shown in Fig. 9. A little 
lateral movement may always be found 
at the strap end of the rod, enabling it 
to b3 swung sidewise probably an 
eighth of an inch. Take up whatever 
free play there is and note how far the 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



83 



strap clears the eccentric on each side, 
see a and b in the figure, place the 
eccentric so that these measurements 
will be equal, and mark the shaft with a 




Fig. 9. 
scriber at one side of the eccentric so 
that this position may always be found. 
The strap may be put together again 
and attention given to the rocker-arm. 



84 



HAND BOOK OF 



It is essential that the rocker-arm 
should oscillate equally to each side of a 
vertical line dropped through its cen- 




Fig. 10. 
ter of support, as illustrated in Fig. 
10, in which R represents the rocker- 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 85 

arm, or carrier-arm, as it is often called, 
P-L being a plumb line suspended from 
above in such position as to cut through 
the center of the reach rod stud D and 
then center of rock shaft 0. The points 
A and B are its extreme travel in either 
direction. Rotate the eccentric around 
the shaft, leaving the reach rod un- 
hooked from the wrist-plate. Should 
it be found that the rocker travels far- 
ther toward the cylinder than toward 
the crank-shaft, when the eccentric is 
thus rotated, it is evident that the ec- 
centric rod is too long and it must be 
shortened by adjusting at E (see Fig. 
10), or at the eccentric strap to an 
amount equal to one half the error. 

Should the rocker-arm travel farther 
toward the crank shaft than toward the 
cylinder, the rod is of course too short, 
and the foregoing adjustments must be 
reversed. When the rocker-arm has 
been made to travel equal distances .to 
each side of P-L, the eccentric may be 
partially rotated around the shaft un- 
til the rocker-arm stands exactly plumb 
once more, the reach-rod hooked on to 
the wrist plate, and the length of this 
reach-rod adjusted so that the center 



86 HAND 1300K OF 

lines on the wrist plate hub and stud 
exactly coincide (see Fig. 7), care be- 
ing taken that the rocker-arm is not 
moved off the perpendicular. 

After proving these adjustments as a 
whole by rolling the eccentric around 
the shaft with everything hooked on, 
we are ready to center the engine and 
set the eccentric. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 87 



CHAPTER VI.— CENTERING THE ENGINE. 



There are numerous methods of plac- 
ing an engine on the dead center, a few 
of which will be- described. 

If the strap end of the connecting 
rod is a true surface and you have a 
good level, the engine may be conven- 
iently centered by placing the level on 
the crank-pin strap and turning the en- 
gine so as to bring the connecting rod 
to a dead level at whichever end of the 
stroke it is desired to find the dead 
point. 

Another method is to stretch a line 
parallel to the center line of the engine, 
running it exactly opposite the centers 
of the crank-shaft and the wrist-pin, 
or crosshead-pin, as it is frequently 
called, then by bringing the crank- pin 
center to the line the engine is on a 
dead center. 

Still another exceedingly simple yet 
most accurrate way to accomplish the 
desired result, when the engine is con- 
structed with an ordinary bed-plate, or 



HAND BOOK OF 



sole plate, which has been planed, is 
by the use of a surface-gauge. Set up 
the surface-gauge opposite the crank 
and adjust the pointer to enter the cen- 
ter of the crank-shaft, when, by slid- 
ing the surface-gauge toward whichever 
dead center it is desired to find, and 
then bringing the crank-pin center into 
such a position that the pointer may 
fairly enter it, the job is done. 

The best method for general applica- 
tion is by " tramming" the fly-wheel, 
or the disc crank, if the engine is built 
with one. This method is illustrated 
in Fig. 11, in which the line A-B is the 
center line of the engine, and the space 
between the points a and b on this 
line represent the stroke of the cross- 
head. Turn the engine toward the cen- 
ter on which you desire to place it, un- . 
til the cross-head has reached a point 
within an inch or two of the end of its 
stroke, and then stop. Now scribe a 
line across the lower portion of the 
cross-head and the lower guide, this 
line is represented in the figure by the 
vertical line through the point c. Next 
make a mark on the rim of the fly- 
wheel at some exact distance from a 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



89 




Pig. 11 



90 HAND BOOK OF 

fixed point on the floor, as standing a 
two foot rule on end on the floor, as 
shown at 1 f in the figure, and marking 
over the other end of the rule where it 
comes in contact with the wheel rim ; 
this point is shown at 1 in the figure, 
also mark the exact point on the 
floor measured from. Now turn the 
engine over past the center until the 
lines on the cross-head and the guide 
again make one continuous line (point 
c in the figure), when the crank-pin 
will be in a position about like e in 
the figure, and make a second mark on 
the fly-wheel rim, represented by point 
2 in the figure. Now with a pair of 
dividers, or in any other convenient 
way, locate a point on the wheel rim 
exactly central between points 1 and 2 
and make a prick-punch mark, this 
point we will call 3, see figure. By 
bringing point 3 squarely to the end of 
our two foot rule when the latter is 
stood on end as before, the engine will 
be most accurately centered. The op- 
posite center is located by going 
through the same operation with the 
engine at the other end of the stroke. 
If the fly-wheel runs conveniently 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 91 

near to the bed plate or any permanent 
part of the engine frame, a reference 
point may be permanently located 
thereon, and used whenever desirable by 
making a permanent tram of a piece of 
stiff steel wire, thus making it the work 
of but a moment or two to locate the 
exact dead centers, after once locating 
and marking them. 



92 HAND BOOK OF 



CHAPTER VII.— SETTING THE ECCENTRIC. 



A study of a few of the movements 
of the slide-valve as compared with the 
piston movement will clear up whatever 
apparent mystery there may be about 
the position of the eccentric. 

In Chapter I. it was stated that if a 
slide-valve has neither steam-lap nor 
lead, the eccentric must be set at an 
angle 90 degrees in advance of the crank. 

The travel of a slide-valve without lap 
or lead is equal to twice the width of 
the steam port ; if the valve has steam 
lap, its travel must then equal twice 
the width of the steam port plus twice 
the steam lap on one end. Knowing 
these facts it is easily apparent that 
when the piston is at one end of its 
stroke the valve must — in the case of 
no lap nor lead — be at mid travel, or 
more plainly, it must have been carried 
forward just half way in the direction 
of the next piston movement, so that it 
may be ready to admit steam to the 
cylinder at the proper time, therefore 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



93 



it is obvious that the eccentric must 
also be at about half of its stroke, or 




Fig. 12. 



one-quarter of a revolution in advance 
of the crank-pin. 

Referring to Fig. 12, which shows the 
relative positions of the crank-pin and 



<)4 HAND BOOK OF 

the eccentric, it will be seen that when 
the crank-pin is moving from C toward 
E, the eccentric is moving from e toward 
f , and when the crank-pin has arrived 
at E the eccentric will have reached 
point f , which is its extreme travel in 
that direction — i. e., toward the right 
in the figure — and when it is in this 
position the steam port has full open- 
ing for admission. As the crank-pin 
continues on its revolution the steam 
port is gradually closing until the ec- 
centric has arrived at g, at which mo- 
ment the crank-pin is on the other dead 
center, the steam port closed and the 
valve ready to open for admission into 
the other end of the cylinder for the 
return stroke. As steam lap is added 
to the valve for the purpose of working 
steam expansively, the eccentric must 
be advanced to an angle greater than 
90 degrees ahead of the crank, to bring 
the valve into position for opening at 
the proper time, and as " lead " is given 
to the valve, this advance must be still 
further increased. 

It is a well-known fact that the recip- 
rocating motion derived from a crank, 
or other equivalent rotary motion, is 



COPLT^S STEAM ENGINES. 95 

Intermittent; for instance, an engine 
piston starting from the end of its 
stroke accelerates in speed up to mid 
stroke, beyond which point its motion 
is retarded until it comes to a state of 
rest on the other center, its fastest 
travel being when the crank is about 
perpendicular to the center line of the 
engine. An eccentric is simply a crank 
with an abnormally large crank-pin, 
and the characteristics of the motion 
imparted by it are identical with that 
derived from a crank. The particular 
point which we desire to bring out 
being that the eccentric also will trans- 
mit its fastest motion to the slide-valve, 
or to the wrist-plate of a Corliss engine, 
as the case may be when it, the eccent- 
ric, is at a right angle to the center line 
of the engine, regardless of its position 
relative to the crank. The foregoing 
facts apply equally to the Corliss valve 
motion as to the slide-valve. 

It is essential that the steam valves 
should move very rapidly in opening 
so as to give full port opening early in 
the piston stroke, therefore the fastest 
motion of the wrist-plate is desired 
when the piston is just beginning its 



90 HAND BOOK OF 

stroke, and to attain this the eccentric 
must be as nearly perpendicular to the 
crank as is possible. 

Referring again to Fig. 12, in which 
the parallel lines A B represent the 
stroke of the piston, therefore twice the 
length of the crank, it will be seen that 
with the eccentric set at 90 degrees 
ahead of the crank, the crank-pin hav- 
ing moved through one-eighth of a 
revolution as indicated by h, and thf„ 
eccentric to the position i, the piston, 
in moving through a trifle more than 
one-eighth of its stroke has moved the 
eccentric, consequently the wrist-plate, 
through about two-thirds of its effective 
travel, as regards steam valve opening, 
as from b to c on line A B, while for 
the next equal movement of the crank- 
pin, i. e., from h to e the wrist-plate 
has moved only about half as far as it 
did for the first eighth of a revolution 
of the crank-pin, its total movement 
toward opening the steam valve being 
b c d. It is apparent that if the steam 
valve is not released for cut-off before 
the eccentric reaches the extreme of its 
travel, point f in the figure, it will not 
be released in that revolution, because 



CORLISS STEA.M ENGINES. 97 

the motion of the eccentric after pass- 
ing f is in the opposite direction, there- 
fore the crab claw will be receding 
from the knock-off cam. 

Referring to the lower half of the 
figure,- we find the same crank and the 
same eccentric, but sufficient lap has 
been given to the steam valves to re- 
quire the advancing of the eccentric 15 
degrees further ahead than before, or 
to a position 105 degrees ahead of the 
crank-pin, see 1, in the figure. It will 
be seen here that with the crank-pin 
moved forward one-eighth of a revolu- 
tion as before — see m — the eccentric 
has moved from b 1 to c 1 which is con- 
siderably less than from b to c as when 
in its first position, and that the re- 
maining portion of its travel during 
which the steam valve may be released 
is smaller still as shown at c 1 d 1 ; the 
total movement during which cut-off 
may take place being proportional to 
b 1 c 1 d 1 , which is considerably shorter 
than with the first setting. 

The effect of advancing the eccentric 
beyond 90 degrees will be that it will 
require a smaller load to prevent cut- 
off taking place, or to "make the en- 



98 



HAND BOOK OF 



gine take steam full stroke " than is 
required to do so when set at 90 degrees. 
Having placed our engine on the 
dead center, say with the piston in the 
head end of the cylinder, and found by 
referring to the " Table of Laps and 
Lead ' ' that a 20 inch engine requires 
1-32 inch lead, we are ready to go ahead. 



ENGINE HOOKED iM 




Fig 13. 



Let an assistant slowly turn the eccentric 
around the shaft in the direction the 
engine is to run, the reach-rod, or hook- 
rod, as it is also called, being engaged 
on the wrist plate, until the lap of the 
steam valve on the head end is taken 
up which will be indicated by the marks 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 99 

on the valve and chamber being line 
and line, as at D, Fig. 13. Now take 
up a pair of dividers the 1-32 inch of 
required lead, and placing one leg in 
one of the lines, have the eccentric ad- 
vanced until the line on the valve is 
1-32 inch nearer the crank than that on 
the chamber, provided the valve rotates 
toward the center of the cylinder in 
opening, as is the case in Fig 13. Of 
course, if the valve opens outward the 
line on the valve must be on the other 
side of the one on the chamber the dis- 
tance required. Fasten the eccentric, 
being careful that it has not been moved 
along the shaft, and then turn the en- 
gine on to the crank qjid dead center, 
and see if the crank end steam valve 
has the required opening, as it un- 
doubtedly will if due care has been given 
to all the preliminary adjustments. 
While this is being done it will be well 
to see that the exhaust valves are prop- 
erly lapped when engine is on the cen- 
ter, this lap should be the same for each 
end. 

Having found everything to be cor- 
rectly adjusted the back bonnets may 
now be put on the valve chambers, a 



100 HAND BOOK OF 

careful examination made of all parts of 
the valve gear to see that there is no 
bind or interference. This being done 
and the eccentric securely fastened 
and its position on the shaft lightly 
marked, we are ready to adjust the 
governor. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 101 



CHAPTER VIIL— ADJUSTING THE GOVER- 
NOR. 



Have the engine unhooked, then 
block up the governor three-eigths of 
an inch and place the wrist-plate at 
very nearly its extreme throw toward 
the frame end, thus pulling the head 
end steam valve almost wide open. 
Now adjust the cam rod which con- 
nects with the cam-collar on the head- 
end to such a length as will cause head- 
end steam valve to be unhooked when 
the wrist-plate is moved exactly on to 
its extreme throw, as will be indicated 
by the marks on the wrist-plate hub 
and stud. Having fastened the cam- 
rod to the head-end, put an extra quarter 
inch piece of blocking under the gover- 
nor — thus raising it a total distance of 
five-eighths of an inch — and make the 
crank end cam-rod of such length as 
will cause the steam valve in this end 
to be released when the wrist plate 
is moved over to its extreme travel 
toward the head-end. 

The reason for raising the governor 



102 HAND BOOK OF 

higher when adjusting the crank-end 
cut- off, is to make correction for the er- 
ror due to the angularity of the con- 
necting-rod. This will be explained 
later on in the present chapter. 

The governor should now be blocked 
up to its extreme height, and when in 
this position the valves should not 
hook up. This will prevent the en- 
gine from " running away " should the 
main belt or line-shaft break, thus re- 
lieving the engine of its load. 

Several of the Corliss engine gover- 
nors have a collar fitted to the upright 
governor spindle, several inches above 
the counter-weight, and held in posi- 
tion by a set- screw ; this collar should 
in all cases be secured high enough up 
to allow of the governor being raised 
high enough to prevent the steam 
valves hooking on, but not so high as to 
allow the governor to be pushed far 
enough up as to raise the guide blocks 
out of the slots in the column. 

In addition to the knock-off cams on 
the cam-collars, there will be found ad- 
justable buttons. When the governor 
is resting on the safety-stop — which con- 
sists of a removable pin in the side of the 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES 103 

governor column, or a notched collar 
loosely fitted around the column near 
its top — these safety stop buttons 
should be adjusted so that they will 
just clear the hook, thus preventing the 
steam valves from hooking up should 
the governor drop to its lowest point, 
through the breaking or running off of 
the governor belt, when the engine is 
running. Of course this safety collar 
must be turned, or the pin removed, as 
the case may be, as soon as the engine 
is up to speed, for if not, and the gov- 
ernor belt should runoff or break, seri- 
ous results would undoubtedly follow, 
because the engine would take steam 
full stroke as soon as the governor 
ran slow enough to prevent cut-off tak- 
ing place. 

Reference has been made to the dis- 
turbance of the cut-off, due to the 
angularity of the connecting-rod ; this 
effect is explained as follows : In Fig. 
14 let A B represent the travel of the 
crosshead pin — consequently the piston 
travel — and the circle CEDP the path 
of the crank-pin. Assuming the crank 
to be on its inboard dead centre — or in 
the position C — the distance A C will 



104 



HAND BOOK OF 




CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 105 

obviously be the length of the connect- 
ing-rod. If we now assume the cross- 
head to be in the centre of its travel:, 
as at X, the crank-pin will have moved 
in the direction indicated by the arrow, 
to point E, whicn is plainly less than 
90 degrees, and when the crosshead has 
travelled the same distance on the re- 
turn stroke, the crank-pin will have 
travelled the space D F, which is greater 
than 90 degrees, consequently the pis- 
ton travels further during the first quar- 
ter of the crank's revolution, starting 
from C, than it does during the second 
quarter ; also a shorter distance during 
the third quarter than it does during 
the last. 

Suppose the engine to be turning over 
very slowly, and the governor blocked 
up to cut off the steam when the crank- 
pin has made one eighth revolution, as 
at a on the outward stroke and b on the 
return stroke, it is evident, with no cor- 
rection of the governor, that when cut- 
off takes place, the piston will have 
travelled the distance A c on the out- 
ward stroke, and the distance d B on 
the return stroke, therefore it is appar- 
ent that the point of cut-off in the 



106 HAND BOOK OF 

crank end is much shorter than in the 
head end, as will be seen by comparing 
the space d B with A c. 

By putting the extra thickness of 
blocking under the governor when the 
crank end cam-rod is being adjusted, 
the knock-off cam is moved relatively 
further away from the circular limb of 
the crank end crab-claw, thus allowing 
this crab-claw to be moved further 
toward the head end before being un- 
hooked than would have been the case 
had not the correction been made. 

When the cut-offs are equalized, the 
steam valves will not be released in the 
same revolution when starting up the 
engine ; the head end valve will begin 
to be released probably two or more 
revolutions before the crank end valve 
is unhooked, before the engine has got 
up to speed. The object of equalizing 
the point of cut-off in the two ends of 
the cylinder is to assist in delivering as 
nearly as possible a uniform rotative 
effect to the belt w r heel, which will assist 
in perfect regulation. It must be un- 
derstood that equalizing the point of 
cut-off alone does not by any means 
signify that each end of the cylinder 



CORLiSS STEAM ENGINES. 10? 

will be doing an equal share of work, 
for the piston rod diminishes the effec- 
tive area of the piston in the crank end 
of the cylinder, and when " balancing 
^he load," this must be accounted for 
There are still other factors which enter 
into the question of stable regulation, 
such as steam pressure, speed, weight 
of reciprocating parts, and flywheel, 
also the manner of connecting an engine 
with its work. 

The instructions given in this volume 
if carefully followed, will result in 
as nearly perfect adjustment as it is 
possible to attain under ordinary condi- 
tions. Different conditions of load, 
class of work, etc., will have their modi- 
fying effect, and the only way to deter- 
mine what the required refinements of 
adjustment are to be in each case, is to 
apply the indicator and abide by its 
dictation. 

After getting the engine to work with 
its full load, should it be found, by ap- 
plying the indicator, that the head end 
still has the longest cut-off, the cam rod 
to the crank end steam valve should 
bestill further shortened if the engine 
has the crab-claw gear ; should it be 



108 HAND BOOK OF 

equipped with the oval arm gear open- 
ing the steam valves outward, the cam 
rod must be lengthened — letting the 
head end cam rod remain as adjusted 
before starting up, for all error caused 
by the angularity of the rod must be 
compensated for at the crank end. 
When the engine is shut down again 
after making this second connection, it 
may be necessary to readjust the safety 
stop cam on this end, for as the engine 
is slowing down and the governor de- 
scending, this cam may come into play 
too early, thus preventing the crank 
end valve hooking on when the gover- 
nor gets down onto the safety collar. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



ft 
I— I 

f 

H 

o 

I 

O 

o 

M 

CO 
GO 

H 
Q 

H 




110 HAND BOOK OF 



CHAPTER IX. INDICATOR DIAGRAMS. 

In the preceeding chapter we referr- 
ed to applying the indicator to deter- 
mine the final adjustment of the 
valves. Let us first study the essen- 
tial features on an indicator diagrams, 
by referring to Fig. 15, which has been 




Fig-. 15. 

drawn by hand for illustration only, 
it being too near perfect for actual 
practice. The names of the different 
lines are plainly marked in the figure. 
The sequence of events in the cylin- 
der for one revolution is as follows: — 
The engine being on a dead center the 
steam enters the admission valve at 
that end at A in the figure, and raises 



CORTiISS STEAM engines. Ill 

that pressure in the cylinder to B 
when the piston starts on its forward 
stroke — in the direction of the ar- 
row. Steam "follows" the piston, at 
full pressure, to C, the "point of cut- 
off," at which time the steam valve is 
released by the action of the governor, 
thus cutting off the supply of steam, 
and the balance of the stroke is made 
by the expansive force of the steam, 
as shown by the "expansion curve." 
At D, a trifle before the piston reaches 
the end of its stroke the exhaust valve 
is opened and the expanded steam is 
expelled into the atmosphere. This 
early release greatly assists in reduc- 
ing the back-pressure on the return 
stroke. 

At E the piston starts on its return 
stroke — impelled from the other end 
in the manner just described — against 
the "back pressure," which is the pres- 
sure in the exhaust pipe, up to point F 
where the exhaust valve closes, and 
the piston in completing its return 
stroke, compresses the confined steam 
thus bringing the reciprocating parts 
up gradually for their reversal of mo- 
tion, to A where the steam valve is 
again opened for admission. This cy- 
cle repeats itself in each end of the 
cylinder alternately. 



112 HAND BOOK OF 

The compression of the exhaust 
steam remaining in the cylinder at the 
closing of the exhaust valve, at F, not 
only serves to "cushion" the recipro- 
cating parts, but it also diminishes the 
quantity of steam that would other- 
wise be required to fill the clearance 
volume at each stroke, thus reducing 
the quantity of steam required for the 
engine per horse-power per hour. 

The line al isthe "atmospheric line," 
and denotes the pressure of the atmos- 
phere at the time the card was taken, 
and is always equivalent to pounds 
gauge pressure or "14.7 pounds abso- 
lute" i. e. 14.7 pounds above perfect 
vacuum. It is drawn by the indicator 
immediately after taking a card and 
while the spring is still hot, with 
steam shut off from the instrument. 

The pressures indicated by the dif- 
ferent lines of the diagram are meas- 
ured from the atmospheric line with 
the scale of the spring used in taking 
the diagram. Thus if a 50 spring was 
used, and the steam line near B stood 
90 points, on the 50 scale, above the at- 
mospheric line, the "initial pressure" 
would be 90 pounds. 

The terminal pressure, which to a 
great extent indicates the degree of 
economical performance, is measured 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 113 

from the point of release, D, to the at- 
mospheric line. 

The proportion of the whole length 
of the diagram held by the distance 
from the admission line — or a line 
erected perpendicular to the atmos- 
pheric line and forming a part of the 
admission line, — represents the pro- 
portion of the engine stroke complet- 
ed when cut off takes place. 

In practice you will rarely get such 
sharply defined points as shown in the 



J6x3(?*- 60 rev -4o^c*I«/ 



Fig. 16. 

figure, unless it be at very slow speeds, 
they being slightly obscured by the 
rounding of corners, due to the com- 
paratively gradual action of the steam 
in changing from one operation to an- 
other. This gradual merging of one 
line into another is illustrated in tho 
reproductions of actual diagrams 
shown in this chapter. 

When perfecting the valve adjust- 
ment after the usual full load has been 
put on, the cards should be made to 



114 HAND BOOK OF 

approach the ideal diagram as closely 
as is consistant with other conditions. 
Figure 16 was taken from a 16x36 in. 
Corliss engine making 60 revolutions 
a minute, and is a splendid card. The 
initial pressure is 63 pounds, (scale 40) 
the terminal i pounds, and the back 
pressure 1 pound, all gauge pressures. 
This diagram is all that could be de- 
sired, and gives every indication of 
economical performance. 




Fig-. 17. 

Figure 17 was taken from a new en- 
gine, Corliss type, 12x36 in. — 83 revolu- 
tions. Steam pressure 90 pounds, 
spring 50. The load was not all on, 
as some of the machinery was not 
ready to run, and the load is far too 
small for the best results. 

The valves had been set according 
to the method described in the prev- 
ious chapters, ind shows what may 
be accomplished by careful work, 
when "setting to marks." A few 



COKLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



115 



slight corrections are necessary, no- 
tably the rather late admission in the 
head end, as shown by the inclination 
of the admission line toward the cen- 
ter of the diagram. Xo adjustments 
were made at this time, it being de- 
cided to wait for the full load before 
making any corrections. 

16" x 4-z' Corlxs* type., SZ tcv ,Stea,m 116 1*. 5 



HP 60 35" 



txaJe. Jo 



'M.EP» 36.31 
H.P. <^58 




rir. 10. 

In Figure 18, card A was taken from 
a new Corliss type "straight line" air 
compressor — air and steam cylinders 
tandem, — the valves on this engine 
also were set to marks. It illustrates 
the effect of the angularity of the con- 
necting rod upon the point of cut off, 



110 HAND BOOK OF 

as described in chapter viii, the head 
end indicating 14:55 horse power more 
than the crank end. Card B was 
taken a few minutes later after length- 
ening the governor rod to the crank 
end knock off cam, — the "oval arm 
gear" being used on this engine — with 
the result that the difference in load 
between the ends of the cylinder was 
reduced to 8.18 horse power. The 
load was balanced within a fraction of 
a horse power when the total load was 
about 140 horse power before leaving 
this engine, but the final diagrams 
have been mislaid. 

A little more compression and an 
earlier release would have been benefi- 
cial to this engine, in fact a slight ad- 
vancement of the eccentric thus mak- 
ing each function of the valves earlier, 
would not be much amiss. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 117 



CHAPTER X. A FEW POINTERS, 

When starting a new engine for the 
first time the greatest care should be 
exercised. Get the cylinder and 
valves thoroughly warmed up before 
the engine is started and when you 
do start do not hook on the valve gear 
but run several revolutions moving 
the valves by hand, or as it is usually 
called, "with the bar/' observing the 
action of the valve ■ gear and other 
small parts while doing so. When 
you are positive that there is no bind 
or interference anywhere, hook on the 
valve gear and allow the engine to 
run slowly for several minutes, then 
get it gradually up to speed. 

Do not try to economize in the use 
of oil for the first few days; use plenty 
of good cylinder oil in the cylinder. 
The surfaces of the cylinder and 
valves will be improved by the appli- 
cation of Dixon's flaked graphite pre- 
pared for this purpose, which can be 
mixed with cylinder oil and injected 
with a hand pump, or fed clear in a 
cup especially designed for it. This 
graphite is an excellent antidote for 
hot bearings, besides being exceeding- 



118 HAND BOOK OF 

ly useful in many other ways, and 
should be included in the list of sup- 
plies for the engine room. 

During the trial run demonstrate 
the efficiency of all safety appliances 
and know postively that they are ad- 
justed so as to perform that which 
they were designed for; in fact never 
assume anything to be all right when 
dealing with any of the various forces 
existing in a steam plant, but knoic by 
actual investigation. 

Do not try to "key up" the brasses, 
or adjust any of the bearings, to the 
utmost nicety for a few days so long 
as they do not pound; it is better to 
run a trifle slack until they have at- 
tained a "surface"; in other words, 
better a little noise than a hot bear- 
ing. 

After a few hours' run examine all 
fastenings to determine if any of them 
are inclined to work loose, and after a 
few days of actual running with the 
load on, examine the anchor bolts to 
see if any of them have become slack; 
take off the cylinder head and exam- 
ine the follower bolts and piston rod 
nut, to make sure they are going to 
stay where the belong. This exam- 
ination of the cylinder should be 
made three or more times a year, and 



COBLISS STEAM ENGINES. 119 

the piston kept in the center of the 
cylinder. Also keep the cross head 
so adjusted that the piston rod shall 
always be concentric with the center 
line of the engine. 

In keying up the connecting rod 
brasses it should be remembered that 
the equality of the clearance in the 
ends of the cylinder is gradually de- 
stroyed, and if no correction is made 
the piston will in time be brought up 
against one of the cylinder heads, ac- 
cording to the kind of rod and meth- 
od of adjusting. In engines whose 
connecting rod ends are fitted with 
the usual straps and keys the repeat- 
ed driving of the keys shortens the 
effective length of the connecting rod, 
thus diminishing the clearance in the 
crank end — or "back end" — of the cy- 
linder. This is corrected by interpos- 
ing sheet steel liners or "shinis" be- 
tween the stub ends of the rod and the 
inside brasses thus maintaining a 
nearly constant length of rod. With 
"solid end" rods keying up lengthens 
the rod thus diminishing the clearance 
in the head end of the cylinder, there- 
fore the shims in this case should be 
put between the extreme ends of the 
rod eyes and the outside brasses. Or- 
dinarily it will take a very long time 



120 HAND BOOK OF 

to sensibly alter the clearance, but it 
should be looked into occasionally by 
referring to the "striking points" laid 
off on the guides. 

After the normal load is all on, the 
engine settled right down to business, 
and the valve adjustment corrected 
with the indicator to conform to the 
conditions under which the engine is 
to run, mark the eccentric's position 
permanently upon the shaft, also 



Fig*. 13. 

mark the position of the eccentric rod 
and hook rod ends, wherever there is 
a screwed joint, to conform to the 
tram gauge which was laid off on the 
frame when the reciprocating parts 
were being set up (Chapter VIL part 

I.). 

For marking eccentrics — or any 
similar part of any machine — we have 
found the tool illustrated in Fig. 19, 
very handy. It is made like a cold 



COKLISS STEAM ENGINES. 121 

chisel with the exception that it has 
two cutting edges at a right angle, the 
apex of the angle being directly in the 
longitudinal center of the chisel. On 
using, its point is placed in the angle 
formed by the eccentric and the shaft, 
when a light blow with a hammer 
marks both shaft and eccentric at the 
same time, with the marks in exact 
line. 

Occasionally a Corliss engine, es- 
pecially those built ten or a dozen 
years ago with the old style slow 
speeded governor, will have an unac- 
countable fit of racing, when every- 
thing connected with the regulating 
mechanism is apparently in the best 
of condition. Well do we remember an 
instance of this kind in our early ex- 
perience which completely baffled us 
yet it was almost immediately reme- 
died after we had called in a brother 
engineer from a neighboring plant. The 
collar which takes the weight of the 
vertical spindle together with the 
balls, is located some six or eight 
inches down inside the governor col- 
umn, just below the bottom of the 
guide slot. When our neighbor enter- 
ed the engine room and observed the 
antics of the governor, he asked for a 
squirt can full of kerosene, and he pro- 



122 HAND BOOK OF 

ceeded to flush this collar with it. In 
a few revolutions the racing had stop- 
ped and after cooling down this bear- 
ing, which had got quite warm, no 
further trouble was experienced. The 
fact is these collars are rather difficult 
to properly lubricate, and in the case 
referred to whatever oil had found its 
way there had gummed, thus the fric- 
tion. The best oil which we have found 
to use upon any governor of this type 
is called "high viscosity spindle oil": 
it is a very fluid, li^ht colored, neutral 
oil, and, as its name implies, has good 
lubricating properties, and being 
strictly mineral, it will not gum. 

One of the common faults of the 
crab claw gear which will cause rac- 
ing, and send the un-initiated on a 
wild goose chase, is occasioned by the 
unavoidable wearing of the "steels." 
When the steel hook contacts are 
new the circular limb of the crab claw 
is concentric with the center of the 
hook block stud. The wearing of the 
contact edges of the block and steel 
and the consequent grinding up the 
same, changes the relative position of 
the hook, block, and knock-off cam to 
such an extent that the cam cannot 
release the hook if the load is such 
as will require a late cut off, thus 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



123 



causm 
stroke 
making it race. 



; the engine to take steam full 
for a revolution or two and 
Eeferring to Fig. 20, 
the arc c shows the changed relation 
of the circular limb of the hook to the 
other parts, after the. steels have been 
shortened by wear and grinding. This 
new position as shown by arc c shows 
why this trouble is confined more to a 
late cut off than an early one. 




Fig. 20. 

The way to determine the extent of 
wear, consequently the required 
length of new steel (the section-lined 
portion in the figure represents the 
steel) is as follows: — Place the point 
of an hermaphrodite caliper in the 
center of the hook block stud and with 
the other end of the caliper follow the 



124 HAND BOOK OF 

outline of the circular limb of the 
claw. If the caliper does not follow 
the curvature of the claw, but runs off, 
following a path similar to c in the fig- 
ure, slide the block along the spindle 
(using a hand clamp to lift it against 
the action of the dash pot and hold it 
steady for measurement) until the cali- 
per will follow the arc of the circular 
limb; then the distance between the 
hook block and the steel on the claw 
shows how much longer the new steel 
should be. It will do no harm to make 
the new steels, say, a thirty-second of 
an inch longer than this, to allow for 
wear. The steels should be hardened. 
Another fault of this gear, which 
makes itself apparent through negli- 
gence, is the tendency of the block B 
to stick fast to the spindle A, due to 
lack of lubrication or the use of an 
inferior quality of engine oil. When 
this sticking occurs it is evident that 
the dash pot cannot close the valve, 
consequently the engine must take 
steam full stroke, and the governor is 
powerless to prevent it, thus it is ap- 
parent that a catastrophy is immin- 
ent if it is not discovered in time. In 
fact, it is positively known that fly 
wheels have burst, engines been 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 125 

wrecked, buildings been demolished, 
and lives destroyed from this cause. 

In any engine room which houses 
an engine whose cylinder is twelve 
inches or over in diameter, there 
should be eyebolts permanently placed 
in the ceiling, one over the center line 
of the engine say four inches back 
from the cylinder head, so that the 
head may be hoisted or lowered clear 
of the studs whenever it is necessary 
to examine the cylinder, another one 
over the middle of the connecting rod, 
and others over each main bearing. 
Their cost is trifling and they save 
time and labor. 

As to tools for emergencies: — we 
have found the following list very ap- 
propriate. It should be selected accord- 
ing to the size and weight of the parts 
to be handled but ordinarily the sizes 
named will be about right: — One 
chain hoist of 1500 pounds capacity, a 
tackle with one single and one double 
shive blocks with five-eighth inch (di- 
ameter) rope, two 12 inch or 14 inch 
screw jacks, a good hickory lever 8 or 
10 feet long and 4 inch to 6 inch at the 
butt, a crow bar, small pinch bar, and 
an assortment of rope slings and 
blocking. We find that provision in this 
line is woefully lacking in the major- 



126 HAND BOOK OF 

ity of engine rooms which we have had 
the opportunity of visiting. These 
things may seldom be needed, but in 
one emergency job — and accidents do 
sometimes happen — they will usually 
more than pay their cost through the 
amount of time and labor saved. 



COBLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



127 



CHAPTER XI. THE DOUBLE PORTED 

VALVE, AND THE "LONG RANGE 

CUT-OFF." 

The two most important improve- 
ments in the Corliss valve gear are 
the double ported valve and the adop- 
tion of separate eccentrics for the 
steam and exhaust valves. 




Fig. 21. 



Fig. 21, is a sectional view of the 
"double ported" steam valve and valve 
chamber and shows the relative posi- 
tion of the working edges of the valve 
and ports. The valve moves in the 
direction of the short arrow in open- 
ing, and steam enters the port P as 
indicated by the crooked arrows. The 
steam is admitted and remains at 
nearly full boiler pressure up to point 
of cut-off, the latter being very pro- 



128 HAND BOOK OP 

nounced on the indicator diagram, 
when this style valve is used. 

While the idea of using two eccen- 
trics and two wrist plates, can hardly 
be considered as a recent improve- 
ment, they were not generally adopted 
until a few years ago. 

As long ago as 1877 several engin- 
eers realized the benefits to be derived 
from separating the driving mechan- 
ism of the steam and exhaust valves, 
and begun agitating the matter but 
for some reason builders generally 
refused to adopt the idea. In 1886 a 
few builders began to equip the low 
pressure cylinders of compound en- 
gines with separate eccentrics for the 
steam and exhaust valves, but still 
using a single eccentric for the high 
pressure side. The fallacy of this ar- 
rangement soon became apparent, as 
when a good load was put upon the 
engine the low pressure cylinder 
would empty the receiver, owing to 
the contracted range of valve move- 
ment on the high pressure cylinder 
not furnishing a sufficient quantity of 
steam, therefore both cylinders were 
finally equipped with two eccentrics. 

At the present time any of the lead- 
ing builders will equip engines with 
two eccentrics when specified, and 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



several of them make a specialty of 
regularly furnishing engines, either 
simple or compound, with the double 
eccentric valve gear. Fig. 22 illus- 




tes the valve gear of a well known 
make of Corliss simple engine with 
two eccentrics, for u long range cut- 
off." 



J 30 HAND BOOK OF 

A Corliss engine with a single eccen- 
tric, having the valves adjusted and 
eccentric set so as to give the greatest 
range of cut off — i e. with the least 
possible angular advance — if put to 
work under a heavy load may be han- 
dicapped by its inability to exhaust 
the steam early enough to bring the 
exhaust down to atmosphere pressure 
at the beginning of the return stroke, 
or as the saying is, to "get rid of the 
steam," and if the eccentric be advanc- 
ed to secure early release the range of 
cut off under control of the governor 
is so reduced that the steam valves 
may not be released for one or two 
strokes, thus augmenting the trouble 
which it was desired to remedy. 

With separate eccentrics for the 
steam and exhaust valves, the exhaust 
eccentric may be given a good ad- 
vance, thus securing an early release 
and sufficient compression to fill the 
clearance space, and warm the cylin- 
der walls up to a temperature ap- 
proaching that of the entering steam, 
while the steam eccentric may be so 
set as to have the laps of the steam 
valves taken up when this eccentric is 
set with negative angular advance, 
thus giving a great range of cut off, 



COKLISS STEAM ENGINES. 131 

and the greatest range of power un- 
der control of the governor. 

The setting of the steam eccentric 
varies from 9 degrees negative angu- 
lar advance to 6 degrees positive an- 
gular advance or from 81 degrees to 
96 degrees in advance of the crank, 
according to the requirements of the 
case. The 9 degree negative advance 
position provides for about seven 
tenths cut off. 



132 HAND BOOK OF 



CHAPTER XII. TABLES AND MEMOR- 
ANDA. 

NOTES ON STEAM AND FUEL CONSUMP- 
TION. 

A good many automatic non-con- 
densing engines require from three to 
four pounds of coal per horse-power 
per hour, according to the quality of 
the coal and the efficiency of the 
boiler. An automatic condensing en- 
gine requires from two and one-quar- 
ter to three and one-half pounds of 
coal per horse-power per hour. A 
steam-jacketed compound condensing 
engine of the most improved construc- 
tion may, with good management, re- 
duce the consumption of coal as low as 
one and three-quarters to two pounds 
of coal per horse-power per hour. 

The average amount of feed water 
required for a good, economical en- 
gine, is about -6 pounds per indi- 
cated horse-power per hour; engines of 
high economy — compound and triple 
expansion — will use less than this 
amount. A high piston speed, togeth- 
er with a high rotative speed, is very 
desirable, as a great power may thus 
be obtained from the moderate sized 
engines, and the evil of cylinder con- 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES,. 138 

densation corrected to a great extent, 
but these are somewhat limited by 
practical considerations. 

A good condenser increases the eco- 
nomical efficiency of an engine from 
twenty-five to forty per cent /and the 
amount of injection water required for 
condensing may be roughly taken at 
about twenty-five times the quantity 
fed to the boilers. 

In estimating for a consumption of 
fourteen pounds of coal per square 
foot of grate per hour, about eight 
pounds of w r ater may be taken as the 
rate of evaporation per pound of coal, 
which can be done with good natural 
draft. With forced draft and twenty- 
eight pounds of coal per square foot of 
grate, the evaporation is only about 
six pounds of water to one of coal. 

Each pound of coal per hour is: — 

1.5 net tons per year of 300, lOh. days 
1.34 gross " " " " " " " 

3.6 net " " " " 24h " 
3.21 gross " " " " " " " 

With eight pounds of water evapor- 
ated per pound of coal, each pound of 
steam (water) per horse-power takes: 
•1875 net tons per vear of 300 ? lOh. d'ys 
,1675 gross " " * " " " " " 
.45 net " " " " " 24h " 
.4 gross " • " " " " " " 



134 HAND BOOK OF 

HORSE POWER OF AN ENGINE. 

Formula: — 

PLAN 
H. P.-^ 



33000 

P=mean effective pressure on the 
piston. 

L==the length of the stroke of en- 
gine in feet. 

A— area of the piston in square 
inches. 

N^number of strokes of piston in 
a minute. 

3300C==foot pounds of work equal to 
one horse-power. 

PROPERTIES OF SATURATED STEAM. 

Ice is liquefied and becomes water 
at 32 degrees F. Above this point 
water increases in temperature up to 
the steaming point, nearly at the rate 
of 1 degree for each unit of heat added 
per pound of water. The steaming 
point (212 degrees at atmospheric 
pressure) rises as the superimposed 
pressure increases. 

For each unit of heat added above 
the steaming point, a portion of the 
water is converted into steam, having 
the same temperature and the same 
pressure as that at which it is evapo- 



COELISS STEAM ENGINES. 135 

rated. The heat so absorbed is called 
"Latent Heat." The amount of heat 
rendered latent by each pound, of wa- 
ter in becoming steam varies at differ- 
ent pressures, decreasing as the pres- 
sure increases. The latent heat, add- 
ed to the sensible heat (or thermome- 
tric temperature), constitutes the 
"Total Heat." The "total heat" being 
greater as the pressure increases, it 
will take more heat, and, consequent- 
ly, more fuel, to make a pound of 
steam the higher the pressure. 

Thetable onpage 143 gives the prop- 
erties of steam at different pressures 
— from 1 lb. to 400 lbs. "total press- 
ure/" i. e., above vacuum. 

The gauge pressure is about 15 
pounds less than the total pressure, so 
that in using this table, 15 must be 
added to the pressure as given by the 
steam gauge. 

The column of Temperatures gives 
the thermometric temperature of 
steam and boiling point at each press- 
ure. 

The "factor of equivalent evapora- 
tion" shows the proportionate cost, in 
heat or fuel, of producing steam at the 
given pressure, as compared with at- 
mospheric pressure. To ascertain the 
equivalent evaporation at any press- 



136 HAND BOOK OF 

lire, multiply the given evaporation by 
the factor of its pressure, and divide 
the quotient by the factor of the de- 
sired pressure- 
Each degree of difference in temper- 
ature of feed water, makes a difference 
of .00104 in the amount of evapora- 
tion. Hence, to ascertain the equiva- 
lent evaporation from any other tem- 
perature of feed than 212 degrees, add 
to the factor given as many times 
.00104 as the temperature of feed wa- 
ter is degrees below 212 degrees. 

For other pressures than those 
given in the table, it will be practical- 
ly correct to take the proportion of the 
difference between the nearest press- 
ures given in the table. 

MEMORANDA ON WATER. 

1 cubic foot of fresh water at maxi- 
mum density, 39.2 degrees F. weighs 
62.48 lbs. 

I cubic inch of fresh water at maxi- 
mum density, 39.2 degrees F. weighs 
.03617 lbs. 

1 cubic foot of fresh water at boiling 
point, 212 degrees F. weighs 59.76 
lbs. 

1 cubic foot of fresh water at standard 
temperature, 62 degrees F. weighs 
62.355 lbs. 



COKLISS STEAM ENGINES. 137 

35.84 cubic feet of fresh water weighs 

2240 lbs. 
1 cubic foot of fresh water contains 

7.48 U. S. Gals. 
1 U. S. Gallon of fresh water weighs 

8.35 lbs. 
1 XL S. Gallon of fresh water contains 

231 cu. in. 
1 Pound of fresh water at 62 degrees 

F. contains 27.64 in. 

PRESSURE OF A COLUMN OF WATER. 

A column of water one foot high ex- 
erts a pressure of .434 pounds per 
square inch, therefore to ascertain the 
pressure per square inch upon the base 
of a column of water, multiply its 
height in feet by .434 pounds. 

H. P. REQUIRED TO ELEVATE WATER. 

To determine the horse power nec- 
essary to elevate water to a given 
height, multiply the number of gal- 
lons per minute by 8.35, the weight of 
one gallon; multiply this product by 
the total number of feet the water is 
raised, and the last product will be 
the foot-pounds of work done in one 
minute. Divide this quantity by 33,- 
000 ; the quotient will be the net horse 
power, to which add twenty-five per 
centum for friction, slip, etc. 



138 HAND BOOK OF 

CONVENIENT APPROXIMATE MULTIPLI- 
ERS. 

Square inches x .007=square feet. 
Square feet x .lll=square yards. 
Cubic inches x .00058=cubic feet. 
Cubic feet x .03704— cubic yards. 
Cubic inches x .004329=11. S. gallons. 
Cubic feet x 7.48=U. S. gallons. 
Cubic feet x 62.355=pounds. 
TJ. S. gallons x 231.=cubic inches. 
U. S. gallons x .13368=cubic feet. 
Diameter of a circle x 3.1416=cireuni- 

ference. 
Diameter of a circle x .8862=side of 

equal square. 
Circumference of a circle x .31831= 

diameter. 
Square of diameter of circle x .7854= 

area. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



139 



AREAS OF CIRCLES. 



Areas of Circles- having Diameters varying from 
1 Inch to 100 Inxhes. 



Diam. 

in 
Inches 



1 

1}I 
1ft 
IX 

Ixft 

1H 

1ft 
1% 

1ft 

s 

l la 

ill 

2 
2ft 

2ft 
2X 
2ft 

2ft 
2>2 



1 

3>l 



Area in 
Square 
Inches. 



7854 
8866 

9940 

1 1075 
1 2271 
1 3530 
1 4848 
1 6229 
1 7671 

1 9175 
2.0739 

2 2365 
2.4052 
2 . 5800 
2.7611 

9483 
1416 
3380 
5465 
7584 
9760 
2000 
4.4302 
4 6664 

4 9087 

5 1573 
5.4119 
5.6723 
5.9395 
6.2126 
6.4918 
6.7772 
7.0686 
7.3662 
7 6699 



Diam. 

in 
Inches. 



3ft 
3^ 
3ft 

3/ 8 

I 3J| 
! 3^- 

| 3>f 

! 3^ 

i m 

! QL.5 
4 3 

; $ 

I 4^ 
4ft 
4^ 
40 

f % 

5X 
5/g 
5# 
5# 



Area in 
Square 
Inches. 



7 9798 

8 2957 
8 6180 

8 9462 

9 2807 
9.6211 
9.9680 

10 320 
10.679 
11.044 
11. 416 
11.793 
12.177 
12.566 
12.962 
13.364 
13.772 
14.186 
14.606 
15.033 
15.465 
15.904 
16.349 
16.800 
17.257 
17 720 
18.190 
18.665 
19.147 
19.635 
20 629 
21.647 
22.690 
23.758 
24 850 



Diam. 


Area in 


in 


Square 


Inches. 


Inches. 


5# 


25 967 


5^ 


27 108 


6 


28 274 


6^ 


29.464 


6X 


30 679 


6/ 8 


31 919 


ey 2 


33.183 


Stt 


34 471 


6% 


35 784 


m 


37 122 


7 


38 484 


1 l /s 


39.871 


V4 


41 282 


7/8 


42.718 


7K 


44178 


7^ 


45.663 


7^ " 


47.173 


7H 


48.707 


8 


50.265 


8jl 


51.848 


%% 


53.456 


m 


55.088 


sv, 


56.745 


m 


58 426 


su 


60 132 


w 


61.862 


9 


63.617 


9^ 


65.396 


9X 


67.200 


9^ 


69.029 


9K 


70.882 


9# 


72.759 


9U 


74.662 


9H 


76.588 


' 10 


78.540 



140 



HAND BOOK OF 



Diam. 


Area in 


Diarn. 


Area in 


Diam. 


Area in 


in 


Square 


in 


Square 


in 


Square 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


10/g 


80.515 


14/ 


173.782 


19/ 


302.489 


10/ 


82.516 


15 


176.715 


19/ 


306.365 


10/8 


81.540 


15/ 


179.672 


19/ 


310.245 


10/ 


88.590 


15/ 


182.654 


20 


314.160 


10/ 


88.664 


15/ 


185.661 


20/ 


318.099 


10/. ■ 


90. 762 


15/ 


188 692 


20/ 


322.063 


10/ 


92.885 


15# 


191.748 


20/ 


326.051 


11 


95.033 


15/ 


194 828 


20/ 


330.064 


llji 


97.205 


15/ 


197.933 


20/ 


334.101 


nx 


99 402 


16 


201.062 


20/ 


338.163 


11/ 


101.623 


16/ 


204.216 


20/ 


342.250 


11/ 


103.869 


16/ 


207.394 


21 


346.361 


11/ 


106.139 


16/ 


210.597 


21/ 


350.497 


11/ 


108.434 


16/ 


213.825 


21/ 


354.657 


11/ 


110.753 


16/ 


217.077 


21/ 


358.841 


12 


113.097 


16/ 


220.353 


21/ 


363.051 


12/ 


115.466 


16/ 


223 654 


21/ 


367.284 


12/ 


117.859 


17 


226.980 


21/ 


371.543 


12/g 


120.276 


17/ 


230.330 


21/ 


375.826 


12/ 


122.718 


17/ 


233.705 


22 


380.133 


v*H 


125.184 


17/ ' 


237.104 


22/ 


384.465 


nx 


127.676 


17/ 
17/ 


240 528 


22/ 


388.822 


im 


130 192 


243 977 


22/ 


393.203 


13 


132 732 


17/ 


247 450 


22/ 


397.608 


13/ 8 


135 297 


I 17/ 


250 947 


22/ 


402.038 


13/ 


137.886 


! 18 


254.469 


22/ 


406 493 


13/ 8 


140.500 


18/ 


258.016 


22/ 


410.972 


13/ 


143.139 


18/ 


261.587 


23 


415.476 


13/ 


145 802 


. 18/ 


265.182 


23/ 


420.004 


13/ 


148.489 


: is/ 


268.803 


23/ 


424 557 


13/ 


151 201 


18/ 


272.447 


23/ 


429.135 


14 . 


153.938 


18/ 


276.117 


23/ 


433.731 


i*X 


156.699 


18/ 


279.811 


23 si 


438.363 


14/ 


159.485 


19 


283.529 


23/ 


443.014 


14/ 


162.295 


19/ 


287 272 


23/ 


447.699 


14/ 


165.130 


19/ 


291.039 


24 


452.390 


14/ 


167.989 


19/ 


294.831 


24/ 


457.115 


14/ 


170.873 


19j£ 


298.648 


24/ 


461.864 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



141 



Diam. 


Area in 


Diam. 


Area in 


Diam. 


Area in 


in • 


Square 


in 


Square 


in 


Square 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


243/ 8 


466.638 


29% 


666.227 


37X 


1119.24 


2±y 2 


471 436 


29% 


671.958 


38 


1134.11 


u% 


476.259 


29% 


677.714 


38% 


1149.08 


24^ 


481 106 


29% 


683.494 


38% 


1164.15 


24% 


48o 978 


29% 


689 298 


38|/ 


1179.32 


25 


490 875 


2934 


695.128 


39 


1194.50 


25% 


495 796 


29% 


700.981 


39% 


1209.95 


25^ 


500 741 


30 


706.860 


39% 


1225.42 


25^ 


505 711 


30% 


718-690 


39% 


1240.08 


25# 


510 706 


30% 


730 618 


40 


1256.60 


25% 


515 725 


30% 


742 . 644 


4014: 


1272.39 


25# 


520 769 


31 


754 769 


40% 


1288.25 


25% 


525 837 


31% 


766.992 


4034: 


1304.20 


26 


530.930 


31% 


779.313 


41 


1320.25 


26y 8 


536 047 


31% 


791 .732 


41% 


1336.40 


26^ 


541 189 


32 


804 249 


41% 


1352 65 


26% 


546 356 


32% 


816.865 


m 


1369.00 


26% 


551 547 


32^ 


829.578 


42 


1385.44 


26% 


556 762 


32% 


842.390 


42% 


1401 . 98 


26^ 


562 002 


33 


855.30 


42% 


1418.62 


26% 


567.267 


33% 


868 30 


42# 


1435.56 


27 


572 556 


33% 


881 .41 


43 


1452 20 


27% 


577 870 


33% 


894.61 


43% 


1469.13 


27^ 


583 208 


34 


907 92 


43% 


1486.17 


27% 


588 571 


MX 


921.32 


43% 


1503.30 


27% 


593 958 


34% 


934.82 


44 


1520 53 


27% 


599 370 


MH 


948 41 


44% 


1537.86 


27^ 


604 807 


35 


962 11 


44% 


1555.28 


27% 


610.268 


35% 


975 90 


44X 


1572.81 


28 


615 753 


35% 


989.80 


45 


1590.43 


28% 


621 263 


35% 


1003 78 


45% 


1608.15 


28% 


626 798 


36 


1017.87 


45% 


1625.97 


28% 


632 357 


36% 


1032.06 


45% 


1643.89 


28% 


637 941 


36% 


1046 35 


46 


1661.90 


28% 


643 594 


36% 


1060.73 


46% 


1680.01 


28^ 


649 182 


37 


1075.21 


46% 


1698.23 


28% 


654 839 


37% 


1089 79 


4634: 


1716.54 


29 


660.521 


37% 


1104 46 


47 


1734 94 



142 



HAND BOOK OF 



Diam. 


Area in 


Piam. 


Area in 


Diam. 


Area in 


in 


Square 


in 


Square 


in 


Square 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


47>< 


1753 45 


59 


2733 97 


73^ 


4242.92 


47^ 


1772 05 


59^ 


2780.51 


74 


4300.85 


47# 


1790 7(3 


60 


2827.44 


74^ 


4359.16 


48 


1809.56 


60^ 


2874.76 


75 


4417.87 


48^ 


1828.46 


61 


2922.47 


76 


4536.47 


48^ 


1847.45 


61^ 


2970 57 


77 


4656.63 


48# 


1866.55 


62 


3019.07 


78 


4778.37 


49 


1885 74 


62^ 


3067.96 


79 


4901.68 


49X 


1905.03 


63 


3117.25 


80 


5026.56 


49^ 


1924 42 


63^ 


3166 92 


81 


5153.00 


49^ 


1943.91 


64 


3216.99 


82 


5281.02 


50 


1963.50 


64^ 


3267.46 


83 


5410 62 


50^ 


2002.96 


65 


3318.31 


84 


5541.78 


51 


2042.82 


m% 


3369.56 


85 


5674.51 


5iy 2 


2083.07 


66 


3421.20 


86 


5808.81 


52 


2123.72 


66^ 


3473.23 


87 


5944.69 


52^ 


2164.75 


67 


3525.62 


88 


6082.13 


53 


2206.18 


67^ 


3578.47 


89 


6221.15 


53^ 


2248.01 


68 


3631.68 


90 


6361.74 


54 


2290.22 


68^ 


3685.29 


91 


6503.89 


54^ 


2332.83 


69 


3739.28 


92 


6647.62 


55 


2375.83 


69^ 


3793.67 


93 


6792.92 


55^ 


2419.22 


70 


3848.46 


94 


6939.79 


56 


2463.01 


70^- 


3903.63 


95 


7088.23 


56^ 


2507.19 


71 


3959.20 


96 


7238.24 


57 


2551.76 


ny z 


4015.16 


97 


7389.80 


57^ 


2596.72 


72 


4071.51 


98 


7542.96 


58 


2642.08 


72^ 


4128.25 


99 


7697.68 


58^ 


2687.83 


73 


4185.39 


100 


7854.00 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES, 



143 



TABLE OF PROPERTIES OF SATURATED STEAM. 



Total 

pressure 


Tempera- 


1 

Total Heat 
in heat 


Latent 


Density 


Volume 

of one 

pound of 


Kelative vol- Factor of 
ume, or cubicj equivalent 


per 
g.qnare 
Inch. 


Fahrenheit 
degrees. 


units from 
water 


in heat 


•weight 
of one 


feet of steam 
from one cub 


evaporati n 
from water 


at 32° F 


uni s. 


cubic ft. 


steam. 


feet of water 


at 212° 


1 


102 


1113.05 


1042.964 


.0030 


330.26 


20620 


0.965 7 


2 


126.266 


1120.45 


1026.010 


.0058 


172.08 


10720 


0.972 


3 


141.622 


1125.131 


1015.254 


.0085 


117.52 


7326 


0.977 


4 


153.070 


1128.625 


1007.229 


.0112 


89.62 


5600 


0.981 


5 


162.330 


1131.449 


lOSO 727 
915 249 


0137 


72.66 


4535 


0.984 


6 


170.123 


1133.825 


.0163 


61.21 


3814 


0.986 


7 


176.910 


1135.896 


990.471 


.0189 


52.94 


3300. 
2910 




8 


182.910 


,1137.726 


986.245 


0214 


46.69 


0.990 


9 


188.316 


1139.375 


982.434 


.0239 


41.79 


2607 


0.992 
A 994 


10 


193.240 


1140.877 


978.958 


.0264 


31.84 


2360 


15 


213.025 


1146.912 


964.973 


.0387 


25.85 


1612 


1.000 


20 


227.917 


1151 454 


954.415 


.0.M1 


19.72 


1220.3 


1.005 


25 


240.009 


1158.139 


945.825 


.0634 


15.99 


984.8 


1.008 


30 


250.245 


1158.263 


938.925 


.0755 


1346 


826.8 


1.012 


35 


259.476 


1160.987 


932 152 


.0875 


11.65 


713.4 


1.015 


40 


267.120 


1103.410 


926.472 


.9994 


10.27 


628.2 


1.017 


45 


274.296 


1165 600 


921.324 


1111 


9.18 


561.8 


1017 


50 


280.854 


1167.600 


916.631 


. 1227 


8.31 


508.5 


1.021 


55 


286.897 


1169.142 


912 2!K) 


134"* 


7.61 


464.7 


1.023 


€0 


292.520 


1171.158 


908.247 


1457 


7.01 


428.5 


1.025 


65 


297.777 


1172.762 


904 462 


4569 


€.49 


397.7 


1.027 


70 


302.718 


1174 269 


900.899 


1681 


6.07 


371.2 


1.028 


75 


307.388 


1175 692 


897.526 


.1792 


5.68 


348.3 


1.030 


80 


311.812 


1177.042 


894.330 


1901 


5.35 


328.3 


1.031 


85 


316.021 


1178.326 


891.286 


.2010 


5.05 


310.5 


1.033 


90 


320.039 


1179.551 


888.375 


.2118 


4.79 


294.7 


1.034 


95 


323.884 


1180.724 


S85.588 


.2224 


4.55 


280.6 


1.035 


100 


327.571 


1181.849 


SS3.914 


.2330 


4.33 


267.9 


1.036 


105 


331.113 


1182.929 


880 342 


.2434 


4.14 


265.5 


1.037 


110 


334.523 


1183.970 


877.865 


2537 


3.97 


246.0 


1.038 


115 


337 814 


1184.974 


875.472 


.2640 


3.80 


2363 


1.039 


120 


340.995 


1185.944 


873.155 


.2742 


a 65 


227.6 


1.04O 


125 


344.074 


1186.883 


870.911 


.2842 


3.51 


219.7 


1.041 


130 


347.059 


1187.794 


868.735 


.2942 


3.38 


212.3 


1.042 


140 


352.757 


1189.535 


864.566 


.3138 


3.16 


199.0 


1.044 


150 


358.161 


1191.180 


860.621 


.3340 


2.96 


187.5 


•1.046 


160 


363.277 


1192.741 


856.874 


.3520 


2.79 


177.3 


1.047 


170 


368.158 


1194.228 


853 294 


.3709 


2.63 


168.4 


1.049 


180 


372.822 


1195.650 


849.869 


3889 


2.49 


160.4 


1.051 


190 


377.291 


1197.013 


846.584 


.4072 


2.37 


153.4 


1.052 


200 


381.573 


1198.319 


843.432 


.4249 


2.26 


147.1 


1.053 


250 


401.072 


1203.735 


831 222 


.5464 


1.83 


114 


1.059 


300 


418.225 


1208.737 


819.610 


.6486 


1.54 


96 


1.064 


350 


431.956 


1212.58ft 


810.690 


.7498 


1.33 


83 


1.068 


400 


444.919 


1217.094" 


800.198 


.8502 


1.18 


73 


1.073 



144 



HAND BOOK OF 



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COKLISS STEAM ENGINES. 145 

CHAPTER XIII. THE REYNOLDS-CORLISS 
ENGINE. 

This engine is built from the de- 
signs of Mr. Edwin Beynolds, in both 
horizontal and vertical styles, includ- 
ing triple and quadruple expansion en- 
gines. 

Figure 23 is a view of the crank 
side of the Keynolds-Corliss "1890" en- 
gine, and Figure 24 illustrates the 
valve-gear side of the same style. The 
Avearing surfaces are all extra large, 
particularly the cross-head and 
guides, and the engine throughout is 
admirably adapted for long continu- 
ous duty under the high steam press- 
ures commonly used in electric rail- 
way and lighting stations, for which it 
is much used. Figure 25 illustrates a 
tandem compound engine of the same 
design. 

The standard girder-frame Key- 
nolds-Corliss engine, which is exten- 
sively used for manufacturing plants 
is well illustrated in Figure 26, which 
is a tandem compound of this pat- 
tern; the cross-compound girder-frame 
engine is illustrated in Figure 27. 

The valve-gear was designed by Mr. 
Edwin Eeynolds in 1876, and is one 
of the standard styles used at the pres- 



140 



HAND BOOK OF 







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CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



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CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



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HAND BOOK OF 




Fig. 27. 



OOKLISS STEAM ENGINES. 151 

ent time. The releasing mechanism is 
illustrated in outline in chapter 2, part 
2, figure 5, and is styled the "oval arm 
gear." Vacuum dash pots are used 
for closing the steam valves when re- 
leased at cut off, this style of dash pot 
being noted for the rapidity of its ac- 
tion at high speeds. 



152 HAND BOOK OF 



CHAPTER XIV. THE HARRIS-CORLISS 
ENGINE. 

The engraving, Figure 28, illustrates 
the Harris-Corliss simple engine. 

The releasing gear possesses many 
desirable and novel features, as will 
be seen by referring to Figure 29. 
The use of springs is entirely 
dispensed with, thereby decreasing 
the noise so common with oth- 
er gears, and reducing the wear 
on pins to a minimum. The en- 
gagement of the hook is positive and 
takes place entirely through the ac- 
tion of gravity, the release being ef- 
fect by a positive locked edge cam 
working between the two arms of the 
hook block lever, and imparts a slight 
rotative motion to this block, thus un- 
failingly releasing. The hook con- 
tacts have four edges each which may 
be successively brought into contact 
as necessitated by wear. 

The dash pots of the well known 
"noiseless" form. They require no 
piping to conduct away the compress- 
ed air, and they adjust themselves 
readily to variations of load without 
adjustment. As will be seen by re- 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



153 



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154 HAND BOOK OF 

f erring to Figure 30 their construction 
makes them practically dust proof. 

The connecting rods are of the solid 
end type with wedge and screw ad- 
justment for the brasses. 

The cross-head is of the box pattern, 
has large wearing surfaces and a very 




.Fig. 29. 

convenient arrangement for removing 
the wrist-pin when taking down the 
connecting rod. The wrist-pin may 
be turned to various positions in the 
cross-head so as to correct any tenden- 
cy to wear out of round. 



COBLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



55 



The well known Babbitt and Harris 
piston is used in all engines built by 
this company. 

All engines over twenty-six inches 
diameter of cylinder are fitted with 
two eccentrics for long range cut off. 

The governor is of the Porter- Allen 
type designed to run at a speed of two 
hundred and twenty-five revolutions a 




Fig. 30. 

minute, with heavy balls and heavy 
counter-weight, which combination 
gives it great power and sensitiveness. 



156 HAND BOOK OF 



CHAPTER XV. THE PHILADELPHIA 
CORLISS ENGINE. 

This engine illustrated in Fig.31. Its 
peculiar features are its massive box 
pattern frame, and its valve-gear, 
known as "Gordon's Improved Corliss 
Valve Gear." It will be seen by re- 
ferring to Pig. 32, which is an enlarged 
view of the Gordon valve gear, that 
the dash pots are cast in one piece 
with the exhaust valve-stem brackets. 
They are powerful and noiseless and 
are so constructed that they discharge 
no air. 

The double ported steam valve is 
used with this gear, giving a steam 
line of almost constant pressure up to 
cut off. 

This company also build a "high 
speed Corliss engine," for electric rail- 
way stations and similar work requir- 
ing a high rotative speed, as in direct 
connected engines and dynamos. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



157 




158 



HAND BOOK OF 




Fig-. 32. 



COELISS STEAM ENGINES. 159 



CHAPTER XVI. THE ECLIPSE-COR- 
LISS ENGINE. 

This engine is built in styles and 
powers to meet the requirements of all 
classes of modern steam engineering 
practice. 

Fig. 33 is an illustration of a single 
cylinder girder frame, Eclipse-Cor- 
liss engine, and Fig. 34 is a ''long- 
range cut-off," tandem compound en- 
gine by the same company. 

The valve gear is of the usual type 
of modern design and needs no detail- 
ed description, but the valve itself has 
peculiar features as will be seen in Fig. 
35. Instead of being driven by the 
usual flattened elongation of the valve 
stem, motion is imparted to the valves 
by T headed valve stems, and they are 
held in place by keepers at each end of 
the valve; they may be removed for 
inspection without disturbing the 
valve stems or gear. 

The cross head is of the usual box 
pattern, runs in V guides, and is keyed 
to the piston rod. It is adjusted by 
the usual concealed wedge as illustrat- 
ed in Fig. 36, 



160 



HAND BOOK OF 










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CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



161 




Fig. 34. 

TANDEM COMPOUND ECLIPSE CORLISS ENGINE, 

(100 H. P.), VALVE SIDE. 



102 



HANI) BOOK OF 



A feature of the governor which is 
shown in Fig. 37, is the "speed adjust- 
er"; by placing the weight at different 
positions upon the speed lever, con- 
siderable variations of speed may be 
obtained as required. 




THE STEAM VALVB 




THE EXHAUST VALVE 
* THE FRICK CO. CORLISS ENGINE STEAM AND EXHAUST VALVES. 




Tig. 35 





Fig. 36. 



Fig. 38 illustrates a tandem com- 
pound Eclipse-Corliss engine, driving 
a double vertical ammonia compress- 
or. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



163 




Fig. 37. 



1G4 



HAND BOOK OF 




CORLISS STEAM. ENGINES. 165 



CHAPTER XVII. THE COLUMBIAN- 

CORLISS ENGINE. 

This engine was produced in honor 
and commemoration of The Columbian 
Exposition, and embodies all the im- 
provements in detail and construction 
demanded by modern conditions of 
high steam pressure, speed and con- 
tinuity of service, such as electric light 
and railway plants and the manufac- 
ture of artificial ice. 

The Columbian-Corliss engine con- 
sists of two main parts — the cylinder 
and frame. The cylinder in the larger 
sizes, is bolted directly to the founda- 
tion without the interposition of ped- 
estals or legs, and in the smaller sizes 
the legs are cast on. The pedestals 
are of box form — in cross section — 
having two vertical walls of metal for 
the direct support of each end of the 
cylinder, at the same time presenting 
smooth surfaces with no recesses for 
the lodgement of dirt, thus being 
easily kept clean. 

The frame has the main bearing, 
with its pedestal, cast upon its outer 
end, which construction dispenses with 
useless joints and prevents spring- 



166 



HAND BOOK OF 



ing. Instead of the usual "girder," 
this company have adopted a frame of 
box section, supported in the middle 
of its length, which is admirably 
adapted to withstand complex strains, 
and combines the guides, main bear- 
ing and seats for the governor and 
rocker arm, in one piece. The guides 
are of the bored cylindrical style, the 
outer ends being tied together by a 
heavy ring of metal. Figure 39 is a 




Fig 1 . 39. 

cross sectional view through guides, 3 
being the ring tying the guides to- 
gether, and A representing the pedes- 
tal under the end of the guides. 

The cylinder is fitted with circular 
valve bonnets, and has round corners 
of large radius on top of each end of 
steam chest, which is an improvement 
on the square corners and consequent 
sharp angle in the steam passages to 
the ports. The iron top cast on the 
cylinder is one of its peculiar features. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



167 



giving it a handsome appearance and 
doing away with the unsightly warp- 
ing, shrinking, and swelling of wood 
lagging. 

The steam chest is much larger chan 
usual, and the exhaust chest is sepa- 
rated from the bottom of the cylinder, 
thereby preventing the cooled exhaust 
steam from extracting heat from the 
cylinder walls. The cylinder heads 




Fig-. 40. 

are scraped metal to inecal, thus mak- 
ing a tight joint without packing. 

The piston packing is the well 
known Babbitt and Harris patent, il- 
lustrated in Figure 40. It consists of 
a chunk ring, with a narrow, sectional, 
self-adjusting packing ring, automati- 
cally expanded by German-silver 
springs. The chunk ring is provided 
with the usual centering screws, be- 
tween it and the spider. When re- 



168 HAND BOOK OF 

moving this packing from the piston, 
it is necessary to insert pins — which 
come Avith the engine — in the small 
holes near the circumference of the 
chunk ring, working them into corre- 
sponding holes in the packing ring sec- 
tions, this will prevent sections of the 
packing from dropping into the ports 
in removing or replacing. 

The cross-head is the approved box 
pattern, with removable wrist-pin, and 
large wearing surfaces. 

The connecting rod is of the solid 
end style with wedge and screw ad- 
justment for taking up the wear of the 
brasses. 

The governor — Figure 41 — with 
which this engine is equipped is ex- 
tremely simple and wonderfully ef- 
ficient; the centrifugal force of two 
balls situated upon the ends of the 
vertical levers of the bell cranks, is 
resisted by a spring engaging the in- 
ner ends of these bell cranks. By this 
mechanism the resisting forces can be 
most accurately adjusted and regu- 
lated. It is designed to run at about 
two hundred revolutions a minute, 
and owing to its construction the 
usual dash pot is dispensed with. The 
safety stop is perfectly automatic, be- 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



169 



ing actuated by gravity in starting the 
engine. 

The valve motion of this engine is 
fitted with unusually large bearings 
and pins which is an important fea- 




FU. 41. 

ture, for the reason that these joints 
are usually the first parts to wear 
loose. The releasing gear is of the 
oval arm type which has been de- 
scribed; the usual vacuum dash pot is 
used. 



170 HAND BOOK OF 

The Heavy Duty Engine, Figure 42, 
is designed to meet the severe require- 
ments of rolling mills, electric and 
cable railways. The frame is massive 
with a bearing practically the entire 
length of the foundation. The double 
eccentric valve gear is applied to this 
style engine; a peculiar feature, adopt- 
ed by this company, is the absence of 
the wrist plates. The parallel rods 
are connected directly to the bell 
cranks. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



171 



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172 HAND BOOK OF 



CHAPTER XVIII. THE FILER AND 
STOWELL-CORLISS ENGINE. 

This engine is built under the super- 
vision of its designer, Mr. J. H. Vorst- 
man. 

The principle features are compact- 
ness, rigidity, and simplicity. All 
wearing surfaces are made unusually 
large and provided with improved de- 
vices to prevent heating of the bear- 
ings. 

Cylinders of Corliss engines of large 
size have been built with ports rather 
small in proportion to the piston 
speed, partly because large ports re- 
quire valves of large diameter, and 
wide angle of travel, and partly be- 
cause they increase the clearance. In 
the design of this engine these objec- 
tions have been eliminated, the port 
areas being of such dimensions that 
the velocity of the steam is practically 
the same in all sizes, and the clearance 
in the valve cavities reduced to a min- 
imum, thereby obtaining high initial 
and low back pressures. 

The frame of the standard pattern is 
one piece, containing the main bearing 



COKLISS STEAM ENGINES 



173 



and guides, and rests upon a base or 
sole plate of ample dimensions. 

The main bearing, Figure 43, is pro- 
vided with cast iron quarter boxes 
lined with babbit metal. The wear 
is taken up by heavy adjusting screws 
and the quarter box shell is protected 
from the wearing in of these screws, 
by steel thrust blocks. The upper and 




Fig. 43. 

lower shells can adjust themselves au- 
tomatically to the shaft without caus- 
ing binding or unnecessary friction 
and consequent heating. Openings 
are provided in the cap, through which 
the shaft may be examined by eye and 
hand while it is in motion. 

For direct connected electric gen- 
erators, a special feature is introduced 
in the main bearings, whereby the 



174 



HAND BOOK OF 



.shaft may be kept in perfect allign- 
meiit vertically; this is accomplished 
by the interposition of a wedge and 
screw between the bottom shells and 
their seatings. 

The cross-head is of a very compact 
pattern made of special "semi steel" 
which this company use extensively 
for details; it is of the box pattern 




Fig:. 44. 

with removable wrist pin. The shoes 
are turned to fit the guides which are 
bored cylindrical. 

The connecting rod, Figure 44, is 
made with solid ends. It will be no- 
ticed that the wedges, instead of being 
set vertically in the stub ends, as is 
usual with this style, enter the rod at 
the side and provide a bearing the full 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 175 

width and depth of the box, which is 
very desirable, as this arrangement 
prevents "wearing in" and consequent 
springing and heating of the box. The 
wedge i's operated by means of a screw 
bolt which allows of a very delicate 
adjustment. A small set screw under- 
neath the rod is added as a safety 
check. Owing to the disposition of 
th@se wedges — the wrist-pin box ad- 
justment being between the wrist-pin 
and the crank-pin, and the crank-pin 
box wedge being at the extreme end of 
rod — the taking up of the wear will 
leave the distance between the centers 
of the pins nearly constant, thus cor- 
recting any tendency to disarrange- 
ment of clearance due to "keying up." 

The governor is of the medium speed 
type with large counter-weight and 
medium sized balls. A novel safety- 
stop is introduced which, owing to its 
peculiar construction, is entirely auto- 
matic, and cannot possibly fail to 
operate should the governor belt run 
off or break. Figure 45 illustrates 
this governor so well that further de- 
scription is unnecessary. 

The Heavy Duty "1900" pattern en- 
gine, built by this company is illus- 
trated in figure 46. This is a cross 
compound engine/ designed for long 



176 



HAND BOOK OF 



continuous running under heavy 
loads, and its construction makes it 
well adapted for this purpose. 

A complete line of this make of en- 
gines are also built, including horizon- 




*ig. 45. 



tal and vertical engines, either con- 
densing or non-condensing, tandem or 
cross-compound, also triple and quad- 
ruple expansion engines. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



177 




Fig-. 46. 
CROSS COMPOUND HEAVY DUTY 
FILER-STOWELL-CORLISS ENGINE. 



HAND BOOK OF 



CHAPTER XIX. THE GEO. H. CORLISS 
ENGINE. 

This engine is built by the company 
which was established in 1849, by 
Geore H. Corliss, the inventor of the 
Corliss Engine. 

Figure 47 represents a single cylin- 
der engine with two eccentrics and 
two wrist plates, the latter being of 
peculiar design. Figure 48 is a view 
of the crank side of the same engine. 

Figure 49 illustrates a four cylinder, 
triple-expansion engine of 1,000 horse- 
power, which was built for a Xew 
England cotton mill. There are two 
low pressure cylinders, one being in 
tandem with the high pressure cylin- 
der, the other one — the left hand in the 
figure — is in tandem with the inter- 
mediate cylinder. This arrangement 
equalizes the strains and obviates the 
necessitv of using one excessivelv 
large low-pressured cylinder. 

The heavy duty G. H. Corliss en- 
gine is illustrated in Figure 50, which 
is a cross-compound, "direct connect- 
ed" engine of 2000 horse-power, which 
Avas built for an electric railway in the 
West. It is fitted with the "long 
range cut off" on both cylinders. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



179 



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Cokliss st^a:.i engines. 183 



CHAPTER XX. THE SIOUX-CORLISS 
ENGINE. 

The standard Sioux-Corliss engine 
is illustrated in Figure 51. The valve 
gear is of the approved modern type, a 
peculiar feature being the disconnect- 
ing device — Hart patent — which is 
one of the latest and best improve- 
ments designed to support the reach 
rod when "unhooked," in order to han- 
dle the valve gear with the starting 
bar. It is composed of two pieces, i.e., 
a clamp, and a bronze box on the wrist 
plate pin. The reach rod end is slot- 
ted and runs over the box, the latter 
being ajustable for wear on the pin, a 
very desirable feature. The clamp is 
a steel nut with a taper projection, 
which fits into grooves in the side of 
the reach rod end, and is fitted with 
short levers suited to the hand. The 
general appearance of this device is 
plainly shown in the illustration. 

The governor of this engine is of the 
high speed type with light fly-balls 
and heavy counter weight, the latter 
having a cavity cast in the top intend- 
ed to receive shot for adjusting the 
speed to a fraction of a revolution; the 



184 



HAND BOOK OF 




CORLISS STZAM ENGINES. 



185 



vertical thrust bearings are all fitted 
with hardened steel balls, which pro- 
duce an exceedingly light running and 
sensitive regulator. It is provided 
with a safety-stop which sets itself au- 
tomatically as soon as the engine — in 
being started— has attained a speed 
sufficient to raise the governor a trifle. 




Figr. 52, 

By referring to Figure 52, which is a 
sectional view of the Sioux-Corliss cy- 
linder, it will be noticed that the ex- 
haust steam passes through the ex- 
haust valve instead of over its edge 
at one side, also that the valve fills the 
valve chamber, thus reducing clear- 
ance to a minimum. The exhaust 
chest is separated from the cylinder 
walls which is of material benefit in 
reducing cylinder condensation. 



186 HAND BOOK OF 

The frame is of the girder type, but 
of box shape in section and has a 
heavy pedestal under the end of the 
guides. 

The connecting rod is of the usual 
solid end pattern with the adjusting 
wedges for the boxes placed one in- 
side and one outside of the pins which 
prevents shortening the effective 
length of the rod in keying up. 

The outboard bearing has many de- 
sirable features. It is seated upon a 
sole plate which is provided with a 
parallel vertical adjustment whereby 




Fig. 53. 

the engine shaft may be quickly re- 
stored to proper level when thrown 
out by wear. By removing the tap- 
bolts which hold the pillow-block to 
the sole plate, the bearing may be 
drawn off over the end of the shaft 
should necessity demand it, making it 
unnecessary to jack up the shaft as is 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES, 187 

usual in a case of this kind, it being 
only necessary to take the weight of 
the shaft on blocking. Further ad- 
justment is provided for keeping the 
shaft square with the center line of the 
engine. Figure 53 illustrates these 
points. 



188 HAND BOOK OF 



CHAPTER XXL THE VILTER-CORLISS 
ENGINE, 

The Yilter-Corliss engine illustrated 
in figure 54 is one of the most recent 
developments of this type of engine 
with the girder frame. 

The cylinder is fitted with circular 
valve bonnets and circular corners on 
the top of each end. The absence of 
sharp angles in the steam passage 
gives a free, smooth passage for the en- 
tering steam. 

The exhaust valves are so construct- 
ed that the wearing surfaces come be- 
low the valve centers which insures 
long life of the valves with freedom 
from leakage. The cylinder is covered 
with a steel jacket inside of which is 
placed an approved non-heat conduct- 
ing filling. 



The frame, main bearing and gird- 
er for engines up to 18 inches are cast 
in one piece, the girders in all sizes be- 
ing of the bored cylindrical style with 
a pedestal under the outer end. 

The usual modern style of valve 
gear, with oval arm releasing mechan- 
ism, and so arranged that it will oper- 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



189 



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Fig. 54 



190 HAND BOOK OF 

ate without the use of springs, has 
been adopted. 

The dash pots used on this engine 
are dust proof, perfectly noiseless, and 
so constructed that the usual cup- 
leather packing is dispensed with; the 
cushion is regulated by turning a small 
thumb screw as conditions require. 
They are both mounted upon one sole 
plate which is bolted to the founda- 
tion. 

The cross head is of the box pattern 
with large shoes lined with babbitt 
metal, and adjusted with a wedge and 
screw. The wrist pin is a taper fit in 
the cross-head and is held in place by 
a nut. The piston rod is either keyed 
or screwed into the cross head as re 
quired. 

Solid end connecting rods with 
wedge and screw arrangement for 
taking up the wrist pin and crank pin 
brasses, are used. 

The outboard bearings are fitted 
with parallel wedges interposed be- 
tween the bearings and a heavy sole 
plate, and are capable of being adjust- 
ed both vertically and horizontally 
without disturbing the anchor bolts, 
which is a spl o Tidid feature. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 191 

Simple engines of this pattern are 
built in sizes from 9x24 inch to 32x54 
inch cylinders. Cross and tandem 
compound engines of this make are al- 
so built. 



192 HAND BOOK OF 



CHAPTER XXII. THE BATES-CORLISS 
ENGINE. 

The Bates-Corliss engine, illustrated 
in figure 55, differs but slightly if at 
all, in general appearance from others 
illustrated in this book, but the con- 
struction and operation of its valve- 
gear are worthy of more than a pass- 
ing notice. The use of steel blocks, 
springs, hooks, and the usual small 
parts have been eliminated in the de- 
sign of this gear, and an exceedingly 
simple "folding device," which accom- 
plishes everything that the hook me- 
chanism does, has been substituted. 
The number of parts is noticeably 
small, and all joints have pins and 
boxes of greatly increased size, thus 
the liability to derangement is reduced 
to a minimum, and its action rendered 
practically noiseless. 

The principles governing the adjust- 
ments of the ordinary "hook" gear ap- 
ply equally to this one, as will be read- 
ily understood by reference to figure 
56, which shows valve gear in full. 
W is the wrist plate which gives mo- 
tion to both steam and exhaust valves. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



193 




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194 



HAND BOOK OF 



RR are valve rods which operate the 
steam valves. LL are connecting 

links and are supported \>y steel pins 
II securely fastened in wrist plate. PP 
are small steel wrist pins connecting 
valve rods RR with links LL. is a 
center line drawn from center of pins 
O and I, which indicates the line of 
strain between the two points. DD 




Fig. 56. 

are tripping arms moving to and from 
each other, varying point of cut-off to 
suit load. They are actuated by the 
governor through rods GG. HH are 
dash pots which instantly close steam 
valves as soon as released at wrist 
plate. Observe that the center of pin 
P on right side which connects link L 
to valve rod- R is below center line C. 



COKLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



195 



The operation is as follows: — The 
wrist plate W moving in the direction 
indicated by the arrow would cause 
link L to tighten and keep its hold on 
valve rod K until the end of link L 




Fig". 57. 

comes in contact with roller D at 
which point the center of pin P is 
raised above center line C, allowing 
the dash pot to instantly close the 
steam valve, the link assuming a.sim- 



196 



HAND BOOK OF 



ilar position to that shown on left 
hand. When the wrist plate com- 
pletes its motion in the direction indi- 
cated" the left hand link L and rod K 
will fold together like that on right 
side. 




Fig. 58. 

The governor is of the weighted fly- 
ball pattern and is provided with an 
exceedingly efficient, and perfectly au- 
tomatic safety stop which is ready for 
instant action the moment the gover- 
nor begins to rise, in getting up to 
speed. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 197 

C and D, Figs. 57 and 58, are inde- 
pendent discs between which is placed 
spring F connected to the hnb of C 
and rim of D. The tension of this 
spring is resisted by pawl E on disc C, 
thus causing discs C and D to work as 
one. Rod A connects direct to the 
governor. Rods B connect the trip- 
ping device' at valve motion. Should 
any accident befall the governor it 
Avould immediately descend until pawl 
E came in contact with adjustable 
screw G, disengaging it from disc D, 
thus allowing the spring F to throw 
the rods B back to the earliest point of 
cut-off, shutting off steam and stop- 
ping the engine. When the engineer 
stops his engine and the governor de- 
scends, he pushes pin H into a recess 
in disc D, thus stopping the downward 
travel of the governor at a point where 
pawl E will lack just a trifle of being 
in contact with adjustable screw G. 
When the engine is started in motion 
again and the governor rises, the pin 
H is automatically forced out leaving 
the automatic stop free to act. 

The valves are of generous dimen- 
sions and have large wearing surfaces. 
They are driven from the end, the 
valve stem being made with a T head, 



198 



HAND BOOK OF 



suitably meshing into the end of the 
valve. The use of springs in either 
steam or exhaust valves is dispensed 
with, their construction rendering 
them unnecessary. The valves may 
be removed without deranging the 
valve gear, which is a decided con- 
venience. 




iz3 



a. 



Fig. 59. 



These engines are also built with 
special admission valves of the flat 
slide pattern, driven by the same gear 
as the ordinary rotative Corliss valve. 
This valve is illustrated in Figure 59. 

Engines of this make are built in all 
sizes ^ind styles of cross and tandem 
compound, vertical and horizontal. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



199 



CHAPTER XXIII. THE WATTS CAMP- 
BELL CORLISS ENGINE. 

Figure 60 represents the valve-gear 
side of a simple Watts-Campbell Cor- 
liss Engine arranged for a twin or 
"pair." The crank-shaft and fly-wheel 
are made of sufficient strength to 
transmit double the power of one eyl-' 
inder, and the end of the shaft, which 




Fig-. 61. 

projects through the outboard bear- 
ing, is provided with a key-way to hold 
another crank. 

By referring to Figure 61, it will be 
noticed that the releasing device used 
on these engines differs from the usual 
form of gear used upon Corliss en- 



200 



HAND BOOK OF 




CORUSS STEAM ENGINES. 201 

gines. The releasing arrangement il- 
lustrated was devised with a view to 
eliminating disturbances of the gover- 
nor at the moment of "knock off," 
which it very successfully accomplish- 
es. The latch is semi-cylindrical in 
shape and has a slight rotary motion 
in hooking on and tripping; the roller 
upon the end of the latch lever is al- 
ways in contact with the knock off 
cam disc, thus avoiding the jar usual- 
ly sustained when such devices depend 
upon a blow for the tripping action. 
The figure illustrates this gear so 
plainly that a detailed description is 
unneccessary. 

A dash-pot of the usual approved 
vacuum type is used with this valve 
gear, and its attachment to the dash 
pot rod is by means of a ball-and- 
socket bearing, which permits the 
dash-pot plunger to turn freely m its 
bore, thus insuring uniformity of wear 
and increasing its durability. The 
ball-and-socket device also compen- 
sates for any fault in alignment, should 
any exist, thus avoiding all danger of 
binding. 

The cross head, illustrated in Figure 
62, is of the box type with removable 
wrist pin and ample bearing surfaces. 



202 



HAND BOOK OF 



The method adopted by the builders 
of this engine for adjusting the cross 
head in the guides is such that when 
the lock nuts are properly screwed up, 
the cross head and shoes have the ri- 
gidity of one solid piece. In all en- 
gines of this make the piston rod is 
keyed into both the cross head and the 
piston. 




Fig. 62. 

The connecting rod is made with the 
ordinary strap end, and gib-and-key 
adjustment, and is "six cranks" long 
or three times the length of stroke of 
piston, which is somewhat longer than 
the usual practice. 

These engines are built in all sizes 
from ten inch up to thirty-four inch 
cylinders, also cross and tandem com- 
pound engines. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 203 



CHAPTER XXIT. THE FISHKILL COR- 
LISS ENGINE. . 

The Fishkill Corliss engine is of the 
usual design of this type, and is built 
with the girder frame of generous di- 
mensions and excellent distribution of 
material. Figure 63 is a view of the 
valve-gear-side of a simple engine of 
this make. 

The valves are made of east iron, 
with large wearing surfaces, and may 
be removed from their chambers, with- 
out disturbing the valve-gear, by tak- 
ing off the back valve bonnets. 

The piston is very strongly built, 
and is attached to the piston rod by 
a cross key and the end of the rod is 
riveted. The weight of the piston is 
carried on a junk rink, adjusted by 
screws in the spider so that it shall 
sustain all the wear, while the spider, 
follower and packing rings are kept 
central in the cylinder bore. The 
packing rings are self adjusting; two 
being used in the larger sizes and one 
only in the smaller engines. Figure 
64 illustrates the design of this piston 
thoroughly. 



204 



HAND BOOK OF 




3 

H 

H2 

. 3 

CO Qj 
CD o 

• V 



COKLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



205 



The cross-head is of the box pattern 
with removable wrist pin, and is keyed 
to the pistol rod. The shoes, which 
have large wearing surfaces are pro- 




Fig. 64. 

vided with a very convenient means of 
adjustment consisting of taper keys 
extending across the cross head in- 
stead of longitudinally; by the keys 
the shoes may be quickly and easily 
removed whenever necessary. See 
Figure 65. 

The connecting rod is of hammered 
wrought iron, is six cranks long, and is 
fitted with straps, gibs and, keys in 
the usual manner. 

The principal feature of this engine 
is its valve-gear, or rather the releas- 



206 



HAND BOOK OF 



iny device, known as Cite's Releasing 
Valve-Gear, and is designed to relieve 
the governor of the work of actual 
tripping, thereby permitting it to 
more correctly perform the actual 
work of indicating the proper time 
when the valves should be released. 




Fig 1 . 65. 

The following illustrations show 
Cite's Releasing Valve-Gear. Figure 
66 is a front elevation, Figure 67 is a 
plan, and Figure 68 is a rear elevation 
of this device as it appears when en- 
gaged, and in the middle of its travel. 

In all the figures, A represents the 
valve-stem, and B the valve-lever 
which is secured to end of valve-stem 
by feather and set-screw. C-C is a 
double crank vibrating loosely on a 
projection of the bonnet which sup- 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



207 



ports the valve-stein, and this double- 
crank is connected by an adjustable 
link-rod X to the wrist-plate from 
which it receives its motion. The end 
of the arm C carries a small rock-shaft 




Fig. 66. 



D which has a hook E fastened on one 
end. This hook is provided with a 
hardened steel catch-plate which en- 
gages a similar plate c fastened on the 



208 



HAND BOOK OF 



end of valve-lever B, and the hook is 
kept in place by a light spring f. 

On the end of rock-shaft D, opposite 
the hook E, is fixed a lever F, having a 




Fig. 67. 

pin h on which is mounted a friction 
roller R. The triple lever HH' H" os- 
cillates upon a projection of the bon- 
net which supports the valve-stein; 
the arm H is connected by an adjus- 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 



209 



table rod Z to the governor; the arm 
W has a pin j on which is mounted 
a friction rolled R, and on the arm 
H" is mounted an adjustable cam 
W (or a friction roller), which is used 
for the stop motion. 




Fig 1 . 68. 



By referring to Figure 68, in which 
the double crank CC is moved by the 
wrist-plate in the direction indicated 
by the arrow, it will be seen that all 



210 HAND BOOK OF 

the parts which are connected to the 
double crank CC will move around the 
center of valve-stem A; the side of fric- 
tion roller R' nearest to the valve-stem 
will describe an arc of a circle indicat- 
ed in the figure by a broken line, and 
when it passes over roller R it will be 
pushed away from the center of valve- 
stem A, thereby causing the small 
rock-shaft D to turn slightly, and at 
the same time to move the engaging- 
point of hook E far enough to release 
the valve-lever B, when the dash-pot 
will act and close the valve. 

At the moment of release, the pres- 
sure on the triple lever caused by the 
liberation will be exerted in a radial 
line from j to A; by the action of the 
friction rollers R and R' there will be 
no appreciable strain to turn the 
triple lever on its axis, and conse- 
quently there will be no tendency to 
disturb the normal action of the gov- 
ernor. As the position of the triple 
lever is controlled by the governor, 
any variation in the height of the gov- 
ernor caused by change of load on en- 
gine will change the position of point 
j and of roller E, and so make varia- 
tions in the times of release of steam 
valves and in corresponding point of 
cut-off in steam supply to cylinder. 



CORLISS STEAM ENGINES. 211 

The action of the Automatic Safety 
Stop is as follows: When the engine 
is at its lowest normal speed, and the 
hook E is at the point of engagement 
with the valve-lever B, the roller R' 
comes nearly in contact with the ad- 
justable cam W (or friction roller), 
which is mounted on arm H" of the 
triple lever. Now, should the gover- 
nor belt be broken, or if from any 
other cause the governor balls should 
fall beloAv the point corresponding to 
the lowest normal speed, the triple 
lever will move in the direction of the 
arrow, Figure 68; the cam W (or fric- 
tion roller) will come in the way of the 
roller R', which will ride on the top of 
it, thus preventing the hook E from 
engaging with the end of valve-lever 
B, and the valve will remain closed. 
No steam being admitted, the engine 
will stop. 

In connection with the above, a 
simple attachment is placed on the 
governor column, by means of which 
the action of the stop motion may be 
suspended or made operative at any 
time by the engineer; and when sus- 
pended, the engine can be stopped and 
started in the unsual way. 



INDEX. 



PART L— ERECTING CORLISS 


EN( 


JINES. 


Adjusting the cross head, 


. 53 


Anchor bolt, casings for 


# 


. 24 


" " tightening the . 


. 


45-47 


" plates, 


• 


. 53 


Bearings, levelling the main . 




. 32 


" scraping " " 


.' 


. 48 


Belt, locating the hole for the 


. 


. 18 


Bolts, follower . . 


t 


. 52 


' ' shrinking in 


, 


. 50 


* * tightening in the frame 




. 45 


Building in the anchor bolts, 


. 


. 24 



Calipers, .... 40-43 

Cap stones, dressing the . . .29 

Cement filling between engine and cap stones, 46 

Center line, establishing the . . 17-19 

" " setting the . . .39 

" " supports for the . . .37 

Cleaning the cylinder and piping, . . 50 

Clearance, equalizing the . . .54 

Concrete, . . . . .12 

Crank shaft, levelling the . . .36 

" " setting parallel to the line shaft, 35 

Cross-head, adjusting the . . .53 

I>riving keys, . . . . .46 

Engine, location of the . . .9 

Filling for joint between engine and cap 

stones, . . . . .46 

Fly wheel, putting on the . . .48 

Follower bolts, . . . . .52 

Foundation materials, . . . .25 



INDEX. 



213 



Foundation preparing the ground for the . 11 

Frame, main bearing and cylinder . . 30 

1 6 rocking of, due to tightening the bolts, 45 



Gauge marks on rod ends, 

Hub-bolts, shrinking in the . 

Joints in the frame, bolting the 

Keying the fly wheel, 

Kind of line to use through the cylinder, 



levelling the main bearings, . 
" " center line, 

" crankshaft, 
" " cylinders and guides, 

wedges for . 
Line, best kind of 

' ' laying out the preliminary 
" import position of the . 
" setting the center 
" " " guides horizontally 

Lines, laying at right angles . 
Lining up the cylinders and guides, 
' ' the requirements of 



Materials for concrete, 

" foundations 

Pipe scale, removing 

Piston, centering the 

Plans, 

Plumb bobs, 

Putting on fly wheels, . 

Putting the main parts in position, 



to the 



57 

50 

45 

48 
38 

32 
40 
36 
39 
30 
38 
13 
39 
39 
44 
17 
42 
34 

12 
25 

51 
52 
11 

15 

48 
30 



Reference marks on piston and piston rods, 53-57 



Soft metal rilling, 
Striking-points on guides, 
Supports for the line, . 



. 46 
. 54 

18-37 



214 INDEX. 

Targets, ...... 18 

Template, building the . . .22 

' ' setting up the . . .25 

Tram guage, . . . . .57 

Valves, description of the . . .58 

' ' putting in the . . . .61 

Valve motion, setting up the . . 62 

Wedges for levelling, . . . .30 



PART II.— ADJUSTING- CORLISS YALVES. 



Adjusting the governor, . . . 101 

" " dash pot rods, . . .79 

c ' eccentric rod to proper length, 85 
" reach " " " " 85 

" " travel of the rocker arm, . 84 
Acceleration and retardation of the recipro- 
cating motion, . . . .94 
Admission line, . . . .110 
Advancing the eccentric, . . .96 
Angularity of the connecting rod, . .103 
Areas of circles, . . , . .139 

Babbitt and Harris piston packing, . .167 

Balancing the load, . . . .106 

Bearings, the main . . . 173-186 

Centering the engine, . . . 87-91 

Coal per horse power, .... 132 

Compression, advantages of . . .112 

line, . . . .110 

Connecting rods, keying up the brasses of . 119 

" solid ended, . . 119 

rod of Filer & Stowell engine, . 174 

Crab-claw gear, . . . .70 

" faults in . . .122 

" " improper care of the . 124 

" " wear of the steels in . 123 

Cut-off, equalizing the point of . 103-107-115 



INDEX. 215 

Cut-off, the point of . . . 67-111 

Cylinder lubrication, . . . 81-117 

" of The Sioux Corliss engine, . 185 



Dash pots, the Harris-Corliss 

" " Gordon's . 

" pot rods, adjusting the length of the 
Double eccentrics, 

" ported steam valve, 



155 
156 

79 
128 

127 



Eccentric, position of, for valve without cap 

or lead, . . . . .67 

Eccentric, lateral position of the . . 82 

setting the . . . 98-131 

" marking the . . . 120 

" rod, adjusting the length of the . 85 

Eccentrics, advantages of using independent, 

for steam and exhaust valves, . .130 

Engine, The Columbian-Corliss . . 168 

" Eclipse-Corliss . . . 159 

" Filer & S to well- Corliss . 172 

" Geo. H. Corliss . . .178 

" " Harris-Corliss . . .152 

•• " Philadelphia-Corliss . . 156 

" " Reynolds-Corliss . . 145 

" Sioux-Corliss . . .183 

" " Yilter-Corliss . . .188 

" room tools, . . . . 125 

" starting a new . . .117 

" with two eccentrics, . . . 128 

Equivalent evaporation, . . \ 136 

Evaporation per pound of coal, . . 133 

Exhaust line, . . . . .110 

valves, . . . 76-185 

Expansion line, . . . .110 

Factor of equivalent evaporation, . .135 
Formula for determining the horse-power . 134 

Fuel notes, . . . . .136 

Gordon's improved valve gear, . .156 

Governor, adjusting the . ." . 101 

care of the . . . . 121 



216 



INDEX. 



Governor of The Columbian-Corliss engine, 168 

" " Eclipse-Corliss engine, . 162 

" " Sioux-Corliss engine, . 183 

" safety stop, adjusting the . 102 



Half -moon gear, . . 

Harris- Corliss releasing gear, . 
Heat, latent and total . . . 

Horse-power and dimensions, a table of 
formula, . 

Indicator diagram, an ideal . 

" a good example of an 

actual . 



Indicator diagram, names of the lines on the 110 



Keying up brasses, 



!Lap and lead, a table of . . .78 

' ' effect of adding, to the exhaust valve . 77 
' i and lead, effect on the eccentrics position 94 

Lead, how it is obtained 

Marking eccentrics, .... 120 
Multipliers, convenient approximate . 138 

Oval arm gear, . . . . .72 

Port, working edge of ... 76 

Properties of saturated steam, . 134-143 

Range of cut-off, . . . 96-130 

Reach-rod, adjusting length of the .* .85 

' ' of The Sioux-Corliss engine, . 183 

Reciprocating motion, the peculiarities of . 94 

Rocker arm, adjusting the travel of the . 84 



71 
154 
135 
144 
134 

110 
113 



119 



Safety stops, 


108-118-168 


Setting the eccentric, . 


98-131 


" "valves, 


. 73 


Steam, action of, in one revolution . 


. Ill 


" line, . 


. 110 


" valve, the double ported 


. 127 



INDEX. 217 



Table of areas of circles 

" ' ' horse-power and dimensions, 

" " lap and lead, 

" " properties of saturated steam, 
Terminal pressure, 
Tramming the fly wheel to locate the dead 

center, 
Tools for the engine room, 
Total heat in steam, 



139 
144 
78 
143 
112 



125 
135 



Unhooking device of the Sioux-Corliss engine, 183 

Valve gears, . . . . .70 

Valves of the Eclipse- Corliss engine, . 159 

" laps of the . . . .66 

" marks on the end of the . . 73 

' ' the position of the exhaust, . . 77 

" slide, 65 

" squaring the . . . .73 

" slide and Corliss compared, , . 6h 

" travel of a slide, . . .92 

Water, horse-power required to elevate . 137 

" memoranda on . . 133-136 

" consumption per horse -power, . 132 

" pressure of a column of . . 137 

Wrist plate, travel marks on a . .74 

" " motion of a . . .69 



APPENDIX TO INDEX. 



Bates-Corliss Engine 




. 192 


it a 


a 


hook adjustment, 


. 192 


a a 


a 


valve gear, 


. 192 


'* ' 


i 


governor, 


. 194 


a i i 


" 


safety stop, 


. 196 



218 INDEX. 

Fishkill-Corliss Engine, . . 203 

" " " packing rings, . 205 

cross head, . . 206 

" " " releasing gear, . 206 

valve gear, . . 206 

Watts- Campbell Engine, . . . 199 

" " " releasing device, . 199 

cross head, . . 202 



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Telephone 49 Hamilton 

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221 



GEO. H.WARD & CO. 




O 
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XI 

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78 DELEVAN STREET, near Van Brunt Street, 
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222 ADVERTISEMENTS. 

ESTABLISHED 1867. 

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BUILDERS OF 



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Tandem or Cross, with Girder or Heavy Duty Type Bed. 

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THE "yILTER" HEAVY DUTY CORLISS ENGINE. 

See page 1 Sq of this book. 




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The following 6 books form an excellent set on ' 
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